I never said it would be easy
by Mitsuki the wolf girl
Summary: I never said it would be easy and I certainly never said that fate wasn't cruel. You cannot have it all, even if you are all there is to me. I knew and he knows that eventually you will be forced to choose. I am just making the choice easier for you.
1. Chapter one: Bato Hatake

I don't own vampire knight. End of story.

_Warning: may contain spoilers, may not. Your call._

"_He loved you, and he left you. Is that really something you want to experience another time around? It's like being bitten by a spider then saying you enjoyed it."_

_Zero Kiryu_

Chapter one: Kaname.

_I had never been interested in love. I guess since the day my whole life was taken from me (literally) it had never crossed my mind that one day, I would in fact, fall hard for a girl. Well, actually if she was just a girl this might not be so difficult to admit. But, to add to my misfortune she is my friend, who is in fact in love with someone else. Maybe I should explain. I guess it started almost two months ago today. _

_My names Zero Kiryu by the way_.

She was sitting on a park bench reading, which was rare. She didn't ever study, so curiously I approached her. "Are you sick or something?" I asked, merely teasing. I was answered with a glare.

"No. I have an important test tomorrow. You wouldn't understand, you don't have to study." She was right. I was fairly brilliant, not to brag or anything, my parents were big on education.

"Your right." I sat down next to her. Her name was Yuki Cross, and she had been my best friend since I was very young. I was forced out of my home and her adopted father was kind enough to take me in. He was the headmaster of a prestigious school that not only taught human students, referred to as the day class but also a night class full of vampires. I, much to my own disgust am also a vampire.

"You sure you're not running a fever?" I laughed, which was rare for me.

She sighed. "I'm fine, Zero." She answered. Then I remembered why she was studying so hard. She made an absolute zero on her last test, dropping her grade to an abysmal level. At this rate, she would flunk a grade and her precious Kaname Kuran would think less of her. If only I was that lucky.

Kuran and I have a certain understanding. Yuki is his and it is in his twisted mind my job to protect her until he can have her. Or so he tells me anyway. I don't know exactly what he is 

planning, but I know I don't like him, or any other vampire for that matter. And before you ask, yes, that includes myself.

"It's going to be a tough night. Are you sure you're up to it?" Her eyes had black rings around them, and she looked very dis-shelved and upset.

"I think I can manage." She said. Tonight another pure-breed vamp was coming to attend some kind of party they were holding at the night class, and Yuki and I happened to have personal invitations. We were the guardians of the school, and our soul duty was to keep the night class at bay and make certain that the day class never discovers their secret.

I leaned back against the bench, attempting small talk. "I don't really know what to wear." Not that I was concerned about what the vampires thought of me, but in the darkest part of my mind I was slightly worried about what Yuki thought.

"You shouldn't worry. Just wear your school uniform, it looks pretty formal." She shrugged it off. I realized that attempting conversation with her was futile; I was just going to have to wait.

"Right. See you tonight then." I left, and she never said a word.

The headmaster bathroom was amazing, much better than the one in the guy's dorm room, so when the party drew nearer I headed to the bathroom to get ready. The headmaster had given me a few blood tablets to tide me over. They were substitute blood products, kind of like soy is a substitute meat product. Except, unlike soy, they weren't satisfying in any way.

I dropped them in the toilet and flushed. Maybe I just liked torturing myself? There was a slight nock at the bathroom door, and I figured it wasn't the headmaster. "Hold on." I made sure all the tablets were gone; Yuki was sensitive about me taking them as I should. Once I was sure that I was in the clear I opened the door for her.

She came in and stared at herself in the large mirror. All the makeup in the world couldn't have covered up her blatant lack of sleep, and judging by the look on her face she knew that. She was unusually down, most of the time she was perky, clumsy and hyper, but today she just looked sad.

At the time I didn't think much about it, but now I wonder if her mood wasn't a sign for what was to come.

I left her alone in the bathroom and headed back to my room. No use in getting to the night dorm early, I wanted to do as little social activity as necessary. It was my job to be there after all, even if Kaname Kuran had given me a personal invitation a few days earlier.

It was five minutes prior the party before I began my trek towards the knight dorm. The night air was cold and refreshing, and the silence was sweet. I closed my eyes and breathed in the night, unable to resist. Nothing unordinary in the air, nothing sinister, just absolute calm.

Yuki was already there, being harassed by Aido more formerly known as Idol to the day class females, one of the most popular vampire students. She was wearing a clingy yellow dress, and getting plenty of attention from all the vampires, male and female. Kaname was nowhere in sight, and neither was the other purebred who was supposed to be attending. I went over to tell Aido to shove off. A hand landed on my shoulder, it was the night class vice president. (A/n: I don't know the V.P.'s name, and I don't have my books with me so…sorry)

"Don't look so grim, Zero, he is just kidding around with her." He offered me a blood colored drink. Seeing the look on my face he assured "It's just wine." I declined his offer anyway. "Suit yourself." He headed off towards one of the night class girls, offering her the same drink.

By this point Aido and his cousin, Kain had noticed me."Welcome school guardian Zero Kiryu." Aido joked. He wasn't too fond of Zeros higher position.

"Aido Hanabusa." I answered "You're not causing problems are you?" I didn't need to ask, Aido was always causing problems.

"No school guardian, I'm being a good little bloodsucker." He smiled, showing off his fangs.

"Put those away" Yuki snapped at him.

"Sorry Yuki" Aido leaned down to kiss her hand, but froze at the last minute.

"Please, Aido, show some restraint." Kaname stood just inches away from Yuki. The look on his face was impassive as always, but the air around him was angry. Aido backed away respectfully.

"Sorry Kaname, I was only joking."

"Where is this mysterious purebred anyway, Kuran?" I asked. No one had talked much about the guests. Purebreds were hard to come by these days, but no one seemed to know which purebred had been invited.

"He is a friend of the family so to speak. His name is Bato Hatake; I have only met him once, when I was younger." He seemed uninterested in meeting him again. Yuki stayed quiet, watching Kaname.

Kaname held his hand out for her, and led her away. Aido sighed in relief "That was a close one." He turned to me "Enjoy the party." He headed off to another group of night class girls. Kain shook his head.

"Don't be so stiff" He said, and then followed Aido. Like he had any room to talk, Kain was more unemotional than Kaname.

I stood against a wall surveying the partygoers. The red liquid in the 'chocolate' fountain poured free, and the smell pulsed from it. It wasn't wine that much was clear. My temple pulsed, and I felt my fangs grow. It defiantly wasn't wine.

Another hand landed on my shoulder, it was a man I didn't recognize. He was older and wrinkled, with grey frizzy hair and dark eyes. "Could you tell me, friend where I can find Kaname Kuran?" He asked, smiling.

"You must be Bato Hatake." I didn't consider myself a vampire, so I didn't respect their formalities.

"That you are, son." He clasped me on the back "I like you. No reservations." He laughed whole heartedly.

"Common, I am sure he is on the balcony." Kaname liked to take Yuki to the balcony where they could sit on the couch and talk in private. Bato followed me and as expected Kaname sat curling Yukis hair in his fingers talking to her in an intentionally low voice.

"Kaname Kuran!" Bato boasted, his chubby face turning red "How nice to see you!" Kaname stood up and they bowed to each other.

"Bato Hatake, I am glad you could make it." Kaname smiled a tense smile. Yuki looked out of place. "I hope you were treated kindly" Kaname said, pointedly looking in my direction.

"Oh yeah, more than I could have hoped." Bato patted me once more. I wished he would stop touching me.

"That is good to hear. Would you like to look around?"

"Well, a peak might not hurt, but I am old and these night time suare's are a little much for me." He followed Kaname, but stopped long enough to wink at me before he left. My skin crawled. '_Creepy old man._' I thought.

"I'm about ready to go." Yuki said, yawning. There was a slight tremble in her voice.

"Yeah, I've been ready." I snorted. She stood up and looped her arm in mine.

"Common then." She smiled. At least she was acting a little more normal. I didn't bother pulling away, I just allowed her to drag me through the partiers.

Aido stopped us at the door. "Going so soon? Why, it's just getting good." His fangs were fully protruded, and his eyes were splotched with red.

"Go back to your drink, Aido." I warned.

Instead of making some funny retort, or even sneering at me, Aido simply threw his drink in my face. He leaned in and whispered "Common Zero, you know you want it." Then he left, chuckling to himself.

The blood smell swam in my brain, I had to get away from the night class, and I had to get away from Yuki. I pulled away as gently as I could and took off for the headmaster's bathroom. I had to wash the blood off before it drove me crazy.

I scrubbed and scrubbed but nothing would get rid of the smell. I sunk down to the floor, burying my head in my hands. I hated this, my cursed existence. I hated the need, the unavoidable craving I had for blood. But most of all I hated the fact that Yuki offered hers up to me, as if it would solve some of my problems.

Why did she care about me anyway? And why did I care whether she cared or not? It seemed like every time I was exposed to the need, I thought about her. There was a knock at the door. Now I knew why I thought about her, because every time I was exposed, she turned up.

"Zero?" She peeked in the door. There were still dark marks under her eyes. I couldn't hide it from her. She curled around the door and shut it, turning the lock. "That wasn't right of him to do. I don't think he did it on purpose."

I almost rolled my eyes at her, and then thought better of it. "Of course he did. He knows about me." My status as a vampire is a complete secret, and if it were to get out the knight class would start a riot.

"Maybe he was only kidding?" She was attempting to rationalize the situation to make me feel better.

"No, he knows." I sighed "It doesn't matter; Kaname won't let him tell anyone." I wanted her to leave; she was only making the need worse.

"Are you ok?" She asked, sitting beside me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't blood anyway." I lied.

"Zero…I know you. You've got that look." She looked at me with a concerned expression.

"I'm fine." I looked away from her.

She held her hand out to show me something, I couldn't resist looking, but I immediately regretted it. She held five blood tablets; they looked like everyday prescription medication, except for the label on them. "He told me you haven't been taking them." She said, speaking of the head master.

"I don't need them." I lied again.

"Zero!" She stood up and stared down at me "You know that isn't true." She held up a compact mirror "Just look at you." I ignored my reflection, because I knew what I would see. Shame, and hurt, anger and fear, my own personal nightmare, and the darkness in my eyes. "Bite me." She said. She didn't mean it to be cute. She was serious. She dropped down to her knees and held her head up, revealing her neck to me. "Please Zero" She begged.

I was no longer able to ignore it, so I leaned into her, pressing my mouth against her neck and burying my fangs deep. Maybe what bothered me the most was that she never made a sound, neither pain nor pleasure crossed her features until she was at her limit and the color drained from her cheeks. I didn't get quite that far this time, before the headmaster was pounding at the door.

"Zero! We have a problem!" He sounded anxious and urgent. I looked at Yuki, and she knew as well as I did that the headmaster couldn't catch us together.

She ducked into the bathtub, trying her best to stay out of site. I opened the door "What kind of problem headmaster Cross?" I asked, hoping there was no blood on my face.

"Kaname Kuran is injured, we must hurry!" He took off running expecting me to follow. Before I could register what he had said Yuki stormed past me, running down the hallway as if she had wings. I ran after her, if Kaname really was injured, she couldn't be the first one to find him.

I beat her to the night class dorm, he was easy enough to find since all the students were gathered around him. "Move out of my way" I snapped, pushing through the angry vampires. He was covered in blood, it was smeared through his hair and dripping from his stomach. Yuki shoved me out of the way.

"KANAME!" She shouted, dropping down to his side. She still had blood running down her neck.

He looked saddened to see her "Yuki please" He placed his hand on her cheek "I am fine, you need to go" He leaned closer to her "Your attracting a lot of attention." She reached up to the bite mark on her neck.

"Oh" She blushed, and then her panic set back in "But Kaname-sama your hurt!"

"I assure you I am fine, I will heal quickly." He smiled reassuringly at her. Headmaster Cross dragged her away in tears. Kaname looked at all his spectators. "Leave us." He said. The others did as they were told.

"Kuran…" He held his hand up to stop me.

"A purebloods blood is the only thing that can kill another pureblood. How do you think I killed Maria?" I didn't comment. Maria Kurenia (A/n: I think I spelled her name wrong.) was another story entirely. "I will die."

"But, what about you're healing powers?" I asked, not that I cared about Kaname, but this was going to crush Yuki.

"We're not really immortal Zero. You need to understand that." He sighed "There is always a limit, and for every life there is certain death." He seemed so calm.

"Bato, He did this to you didn't he?" I asked, although the answer was obvious.

"Yes, I didn't expect it. He caught me when my guard was down, the coward. I feel foolish for trusting him." He just smiled.

"Why? What motive is there?" I asked

"To kill off the Kurans." He answered matter-of-factly. "Our bloodline will die with me. It's a brilliant plan." He was staring at the door, as if expecting someone.

"Zero, promise me something." He looked solemn.

"Sure" I reluctantly agreed.

"Take care of her. She is all I have, you don't understand. Or rather, you do understand, and that's why I need you to help me." He continued staring at the door.

"Kuran, I mean Kaname, you can't leave her. She loves you, Kaname." I didn't know why I was being so sentimental, but I had never been put on the spot in this type of situation before.

"I know, I love her as well, but there is nothing I can do." He touched the wound on his stomach, and then held his hand up to view the blood. He brought his hand down and licked the blood off his longest finger. "You need to go, Zero. I need to be alone."

I stood up and headed for the door. I turned back to say something to him, but he was gone. "Don't worry Kaname." I whispered. I would take care of Yuki. She had already cared for me more than enough.

**Three Days Later-**

The funeral wasn't traditional, it was royal. No one from the night class was invited, even headmaster Cross received only a single invitation. He left early in the morning, on a private plane dressed in his finest black clothes, fit for a royal vampire funeral. I hadn't seen Yuki since the vice president of the night class announced the death of the pure blood Kaname Kuran.

I was worried about her, but she wouldn't answer anytime I knocked on her door. Even her best friend and roommate had been staying in another room because Yuki wanted to be alone. I approach Sayori, Yukis best friend after class. If I could help it, I didn't make habit of talking to her, but this was important.

"Sayori, can I talk to you?" I asked.

"What Kiryu?" She said.

"How is she?" I tried to be nonchalant.

"Not good Zero, she won't open the door, I haven't seen her cry. She keeps staring into space with this distant look, it's really sad." She shook her head from side to side.

"You need to talk to her." I said.

She gave me an annoyed looks "No, Zero, _you_ need to talk to her."She said.

I stared at her "Me? Why me?" I asked.

"I know you have self-esteem issues because you don't think you're as good as Kaname Kuran but, and I don't mean to be morbid or anything but Zero, he is dead." She watched my reaction "You need to talk to her, seriously. Before she does something stupid."

I knew what she meant, even if she didn't know. It would be just like Yuki to go after Bato Hatake, to try and seek revenge for Kaname. I headed for her bedroom and knocked on the door. "Yuki, open the door or I will kick it down." I heard something move inside the room and a moment later the locks clicked and the door opened.

I had never seen her like this, dark black mark around her bloodshot eyes, her hair was messy and her cloths dis-shelved like she had been wallowing in self-pity. Her cheeks were pale and she hadn't even bothered to bandage the bite mark I had left on her. "Yuki…" I didn't know what to say, consolence wasn't my strong point.

"Don't start Zero. I know." She went and sat on her bed.

"If you know then why haven't you come out? You've been in here for three days Yuki." I said, closing the door and sitting on the opposite bed.

"They didn't even invite me to the funeral." She said, clamping her eyes shut.

"Yuki, maybe it's better that you didn't go." I said, looking at her from the corner of my eyes.

"How can you say that?" She asked. "He was…" She stopped mid-sentence. I didn't want her to answer. I didn't want to know about her and Kuran.

"You haven't slept; your body has to be wearing down." I said. "You have always been concerned for me, can't I return the favor?"

Her eyes began to tear up. "Zero…just tell me one thing…is he really dead?" She was in the denial stage.

"Yes Yuki, he is." I whispered. She stood up and for a second I thought she was going to leave the room, but instead she sat down next to me and broke down in tears. I awkwardly put my arm around her. "It's ok."

We stayed like that for a long time, before she finally tired herself out and fell asleep. I lay back on the bed, careful not to wake her and she slept on me for a good two hours. I watched her chest rise and fall, her steady rhythmic breathing almost made me want to go to sleep.

She woke up dazed, but she didn't say anything. "You need to bandage that wound" I said. She simply nodded. The next day she came to school smiling her usual smile. Her eyes were no longer dark and she looked as if nothing had ever happened.

I didn't talk to her, I still felt a little strange about last night, but she waltzed right up to me. "Good morning Zero." She said.

"Good morning." I answer, confused by her mood. She walked off, greeting others in the same eerie fashion. There was something wrong with her, so after school I cornered her. She was standing by the night building, waiting for darkness to fall. "Hey" I greeted.

She jumped when she heard me. "Oh hey."

"Not really on your guard tonight, are you feeling better?" I asked.

"Yeah, I feel fine." She smiled.

"I don't believe that." I said.

"Look, if you're talking about yesterday I'm sorry. I was upset and confused and I didn't really know what I was doing." She shook her head from side to side as if she couldn't believe her own actions.

"That's not the problem. I know you loved him." I said.

She looked shocked. Obviously she didn't know I knew. "You know?" She gasped.

"Oh Yuki, Everyone knows! It's obvious; it's _been_ obvious since I moved in with you and the headmaster." My voice raised up a few octaves before I could help it. She glared at me, then simply turned and walked away. I grabbed her hand "Yuki, say something."

"Fine, LEAVE ME ALONE!" She shouted, storming off.

Aido stepped out of the shadows once she was out of sight, clapping his hands. "Bravo, Kiryu." He applauded. "Very smooth."

"Oh shut up, Aido." I said, heading back to the dorms.

The next day Yuki wouldn't talk to me. She wouldn't even look at me. Her roommate cornered me after school. "Some talk you guys must have had." She said.

"I don't know what went wrong. She is being unreasonable." I answered angrily.

"Maybe you should have respected her feelings, instead of rubbing it in her face." She said.

"She told you?" I snarled.

"No I…uh…" She rubbed the back of her head "I was standing nearby." I didn't notice her holding her neck.

"Don't patronize me." I mumbled walking away from her. Yukis door was open, I glanced in but it was empty. A moment of panic struck me. What if she had gone off to find Bato? I ran down the hallway, but ended up in front of the headmaster's bathroom. The shower was on and the door was open.

I didn't want to peak at her, and I certainly didn't want to walk in on the headmaster taking a shower but I had to make sure she was ok. "Yuki?" I asked through the crack in the door. I received no answer. "Yuki?" I asked a second time.

The shower water turned off. "Zero?" Yuki peaked around the door, her hair dripping wet a towel wrapped around her body. "What's up?" She asked, acting as if we hadn't just fought.

"I wanted to" I swallowed my pride "Apologize, you know, for earlier." I looked away from her. "I didn't mean to say the things that I said."

"It's ok, Zero. Don't worry about it. I understand that you're worried about me and I'm grateful for it." She pushed the door open a little wider "I promise that I am ok." She smiled, and then held her arms open. I rolled my eyes and hugged her.

As much as it pained me, I had to say it. "Yuki, you know I'm here for you, right?"

She smiled "Of course." She touched her neck, and then closed the bathroom door. I leaned against the door. Why was I feeling so helpless? And why did I have the darkest suspicion that she wasn't ok?

_A/N: __Hey! Mitsuki here. So this is my first Vampire Knight Fan fiction. I apologize in advance for any mistakes on name spelling; I don't have my books for referencing. Well, you know what _

_to do people read and review, and please NO FLAMES! Stay tuned for chapter two: The littlest black spider, coming soon._


	2. Chapter two: Kayasha Matsumi

_I don't own Vampire Knight. End of story._

_May contain spoilers, may not. Your call._

"There was this tiny piece of me that wanted her to understand…"

Zero Kiryu

_Chapter two – The littlest black spider_

_**A peek inside Yuki's head;**_

'_Of__ every option I had, this one was the most complicated. That man…that monster…well, I just couldn't let him live could I? He took one of the most precious people from me with absolutely no remorse. I knew vampires were killers, but in the past few weeks I had begun to see the good in them. But now, every negative stereotype came flooding back, and I wanted nothing more than for Bato Hatake to die by my hands. ' _

_**Back to my story;**_

School had become incredibly boring. The night class had virtually holed itself up in the night dorm and disappeared. Which as a negative effect means that Yuki and I are out of a job? Of course, that does have its upside. Yuki is no longer in danger of flunking a grade and I don't have to deal with those annoying vampires.

Of course, the absence of the night class did have a down side. I didn't realize it until it was gone but being a school guardian was what kept me on guard. If I was to become a hypocrite and follow in my families footsteps as vampire hunters one day, I was going to need to be in top physical condition.

The school had a gym, which is where I spent most of my now empty afternoons. Although, of all the downsides, the fact that I no longer had any excuse to talk to Yuki was what bothered me the most. We still passed each other on our way to class but it was hardly the same. Even worse, graduation was coming along faster than expected and once it did we would have no reason to see each other at all.

The lunch bell rang, and I headed up to the roof. By nature I am not a social person, so I like to eat alone at lunch. Well, not entirely alone. I used to have lunch with Yuki until just recently, that is. Today though, to my surprise, she was sitting in her usual spot on the ledge of the roof munching on an egg salad sandwich that the headmaster had graciously made for the both of us. (I 'misplaced' mine in the trash when he wasn't looking.)

"Hey Zero!" She greeted, smiling.

"Hey. What are you doing up here?" I asked. Maybe she was still upset about what happened to Kaname. He was tragically murdered by another pureblood named Bato Hatake a few days earlier, and Yuki has been taking it kind of hard ever since.

"What do you mean? I always eat lunch up here. That's like me asking you what you're doing up here." She said.

"Oh, I guess I just haven't seen you around lately." I said, still a little confused.

"Yeah…I have been kind of busy." She glanced away from me, staring at the rooftop.

I sat down beside her and opened my own lunch. Peanut butter sandwich, not my favorite but much more preferable to egg salad. "So, how are you faring without being a school guardian?" I asked an attempt at awkward conversation.

"I don't mind it so much. I miss the night class though, although I'm sure you're enjoying it much more than I am." She knew how much I hated all vampires, including myself.

"Yeah I am, but I do have to admit that things are really boring." I shrugged and took a bite of my sandwich.

Yuki stared at her feet with a blank expression. "Can you keep a secret, Zero? You can't tell headmaster cross that I told you this, ok."

I glanced at her. She was staring so blankly it worried me. "Yeah, shoot." I watched her expressions carefully. At first her face showed deep regret, then the same sadness she had when Kaname died passed through her eyes, then finally resign as she opened her mouth to tell me.

"Well, according to what headmaster Cross was telling to the night dorm VP he has found another pureblood vampire interested in attending the school. He didn't give many details on the matter, but headmaster said that without a pureblood to control the knight class, things could get out of hand. Even if things do seem momentarily peaceful." She shook her head from side to side.

I dropped my peanut butter sandwich on the ground below me. "What?" I snapped.

"Please Zero…" she said, glancing at me.

"I'm sorry. I just…I was beginning to enjoy the night classes absence." I said, kicking my sandwich.

She stood up "I know why your upset, but without this pureblood headmasters dream of a world where we can live in peace with each other." She said.

"I don't want to live in peace with those creatures, ever. I thought you knew that?" I said, clenching my teeth.

She tossed a bag of potato chips onto my lap and walked back towards the stairs "One day, Zero, you are going to have to come to terms with what you are." She disappeared into the stairwell, shutting the door.

I opened the potatoes chips and emptied the bag into my mouth. This was just not my week. "I just don't get you, Yuki."

The few days that passed were some of my worst. I went through my days like a robot, only doing what was absolutely necessary and nothing more. I worried constantly about weather what Yuki said was true. So that when the day finally arrived that the headmaster came to me and told me about the new pureblood, I was completely stressed.

"Zero, can I have a word with you please?" Headmaster Cross was standing in my doorway, looking out of place.

I knew what he had come to tell me. "Yeah, what do you need Headmaster?" I asked, feigning innocent.

"Well, I am going to need you and Yuki to take up your roles as school guardians once more." He said, trying to beat around the bush.

I wasn't letting him off that easily. "How come headmaster?" I asked, calmly.

"Well you see, since Kaname was the only reasons that the night class students are here at Cross academy, I decided that we needed a new pureblood to take his place. So after talking with a few old friends of mine, I found a pureblood who seemed very interested in joining the cause." He said. "She will be arriving tonight and I need you and Yuki to be there to greet her, since I have other things to attend to tonight." He looked regretful "I would have sent Yuki alone, but I didn't think she could handle it after everything she's been through in the past few days."

"Don't worry. I will help her." I didn't feel like causing a scene. As long as the pureblood wisent Maria, I didn't mind. I headed out to the night door, and just as I turned the corner to the street, I ran into Sayori, Yukis best friend.

She flushed and brushed down her skirt "Oh Zero, I'm sorry. I didn't expect to run into anyone out here." She looked at everything except my eyes.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked. The day students were supposed to be back in there dorms by nighttime. Mostly, Yuki and I found night class groupies wandering around the grounds at night, but Sayori never struck me as a night class groupie.

"Um…I was just…taking a stroll in the moonlight." She stuttered, flustered and out of breath.

"Fine, whatever. Go back to the dorm, it's dangerous out here." I said, and she shuffled off. '_What was up with her?'_

The car had already arrived by the time I made it out to the street, and the entire night class was out circling around. Yuki stood talking to Kain and the night class VP, she looked happy to see them. I walked over "Where Aido?" I asked. Usually Kain and Aido stayed fairly close together.

"Present, school guardian Kiryu." Aido said, appearing behind me. He licked his lips "So are you as excited as I am?" Aido asked, smiling his sinister smile.

"No." I said, flatly. Yuki elbowed me in the ribs.

"Be nice, you don't even know her." She said.

Part of me wanted Yuki to understand why I hated vampires, and a part of me just wanted Yuki to understand me in general. But she didn't, and there was nothing I could do. I sighed "Sorry" I mumbled.

"What Zero, being pushed around by a little girl?" Aido joked, laughing. I looked at my watch. According to headmaster Cross, the new pureblood would reveal herself at midnight exactly I still had a few minutes to argue with Aido.

"What was that Aido? You looking for a fight?" I growled. Yuki elbowed me again. "Stop it."

"Yeah, what are you going to do? Bite me?" Aido laughed hysterically. I wanted to hit him, but I knew Yuki would kill me if I did, so I let that one slide.

There was a collective gasp from the group of night class students as the limo door opened and a vampire emerged. I had never seen a more glamorous girl; she sparkled from her hair to her 

expensive white shoes. Her hair was bleach blonde and she had pale skin, paler than most vampires. Her eyes were a shocking electric blue, and her expression was sweet and innocent. I wasn't fooled at all by her demeanor, she was just like all the other purebreds, arrogant, self absorbed and controlling.

The first thing she did was hug Yuki. Yuki was shocked to say the least. "I am very happy to hear of your cause, dear one. It is a very noble thing that you and headmaster Cross are doing." The vampire said in a silky voice. I growled at her. She was already pissing me off.

"Oh, well…thank you" Yuki blushed. "Zero is helping too. In fact, all the vampires here are helping to accomplish the headmaster's goal." She said.

"Zero?" She asked. All the other vampires watched in awe.

"Yes" Yuki turned to me, as I dreaded she would and introduced me "This is Zero Kiryu. He is headmaster Crosses adopted son."

"Oh!" The vampire giggled "So you two are like siblings?" she held her hand out to me, not knowing how much her last statement hurt. I ignored her hand as a million words came flooding into my head, words like incest and betrayal. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. "Well, that was rude" The vampire mumbled.

"Be nice!" Yuki snapped. "I'm sorry miss, he is just shy." She smiled to cover up the lie.

"Well, I understand. Must be a human thing." She winked in my direction. She must know, like Kaname did before her, that I am also a vampire. "It is good to meet you, brethren. My name is Kaysha Matsumi; I am a distant cousin of Maria Kurenia's. You can all call me Kay, since it's easy to remember." She smiled sweetly, and almost every male vampire melted in her presence (all except Aido, oddly enough.)

"We have come to greet you." Yuki said "I hope you have a wonderful time here at Cross academy. The VP of the night dorm will show you to your room, and if you have any questions feel free to ask me." Yuki smiled as she said this. I was glad she didn't mention me; I didn't want that vampire near me, or for that matter Yuki. After a brief thank you Kaysha headed off with the night dorm VP. Yuki walked with me back to the night door without another word.

"_She is a relative of Batos, banished from the Hatake family for committing unspeakable crimes." Someone whispered, there voice sounding distant. "I don't know what she is capable of. The little wretch murdered her own family." There was a light at the end of a long tunnel, and the voices were sounding from beyond a door he could not locate. I moved towards the light, groping the wall for something, anything that would help me see._

"_A murderer, the lot of them. It is amazing that they haven't targeted the Kuran's their eldest daughter is being cared for by a human, she would make an easy target." I continued moving as the voices got louder, closer._

_My fingers stumbled over soft flesh and my skin crawled. I dared not look, but curiosity compelled me. I glanced upward and saw Yuki, chained to the wall, impaled in the head. In shock I backed against the opposing wall. Something burned at my palms, and a knocking sounded from somewhere close by. What was happening? Was Yuki dead? Who had done this to her? Where was he? In a split second a million questions raced through my mind and then, I woke up._

I was panting, and there was a knocking at his door. He glanced at his clock which read three A.M. He shockingly stood to answer the door. Yuki stood in the hallway, looking upset. "Hey" He mumbled, still confused.

"Hey." She said, looking awkward.

"Come in" I said, moving to the side to allow her entrance. "What's wrong?" I asked, noting her horrified expression.

"I don't know. I wanted to go to headmaster cross but he wasn't in his room. I just had this horrible dream." She said, sitting down on the bed. She looked as shaken as I felt.

"It was just a nightmare, Yuki." I assured her, shutting the door.

"No it was different, it was real. Like a vision or something." She said shaking her head back and forth. "I was in this hallway and I ran across a body, but it wasn't just anybody. It was me. I was chained up, and there was a sward through my head. I slipped on my own blood puddle and woke up; my hands are burning from where I touched my own flesh. It was so real" She was nearly in tears. I thought back to my own dream, hers was almost exactly the same.

"It's ok." I sat down beside her. This was unnatural. How could we have had the exact same dream, right down to the burning palms? I didn't know what else to tell her. I just couldn't admit that I was having the same dream when she arrived at my door, because that would be admitting that the dream might hold some kind of truth.

I let her sleep in my room since I had an extra bed considering I had scared off all my potential roommates. I didn't bother going back to sleep, just in case I had another dream. I lay awake and stared at the ceiling. I know Kaname had told me to look after her, but this was getting a tad ridiculous.

In the darkness I was able to better evaluate my scrambled feelings. On one hand, I loved Yuki. We had grown up together like siblings, and treated each other with joking annoyance that sheltered a more deep-rooted caring. She was kinder to me because she held no qualms about sharing her feelings, which just the thought of tended to make me cringe.

And on the other hand, the one I especially liked to ignore, I loved Yuki. But this type of love was all wrong. It was powerful, every smile and giggle she pointed in my direction pierced my heart. This love was not innocent childlike playful sibling love. It was deep, burning palpable feelings that surfaced every time I was around her. This love was problematic, because it unraveled every rationalization I had for Yuki and my relationship.

I sighed. This matter was obviously not going to resolve itself, so one way or another I was going to have to take some kind of incentive. (Yuki twitched anxiously in her sleep plagued by another nightmare while I contemplated my dilemma.) My only idea was to ask the headmaster, or I could ask Yuki without really asking her. I weighted my options, and half-asking Yuki seemed like a much less embarrassing alternative to asking the headmaster anything.

I tried to keep my head clear of troubling thoughts, while the night ebbed away. Yuki never stopped twitching, moaning and eventually, talking. She mumbled about Kaname replaying random scenes from her past, I noted the word goodbye a lot. She even said something about Aido, though I didn't quite catch anything but the word suspicious. Maybe she had noted his strange behavior just as I had….a thought crossed my mind.

Why was it that Sayori was outside tonight? I ran into her just moments before I ran into Aido…and if I recall correctly she was holding her neck, and Aido had been licking his lips. My eyes widened with sudden realization and I shook Yuki awake, unable to control myself. "Yuki get up!" I said.

She groggily responded "What's wrong? What happened?" She asked, looking around half-panicked.

"Do you think that there is something going on between Sayori and Aido?" I asked. Even voiced, the idea seemed stupid. Sayori wasn't one to follow the crowd, but the evidence was irrefutable.

She was suddenly wide awake. "That's brilliant! I have been trying to figure out why she has been out all the time and ignoring me lately! It has been really frustrating, because every time I ask she makes up some strange excuse and runs away!"

I thought about it. Was Aido really so brave? "What are we going to do?" I didn't like Sayori, per say, but I appreciated her help with Yuki. I liked her more that I wanted to knock Aido down a few pegs.

"I-I don't know." She shook her head. "But I really think that your right." She said. I could tell by her intense expression that she was thinking. "We should tell the VP." She said.

"Why not the president?" I asked, sarcastically.

"She needs time to adjust to being here before we dump a load of duties on her." I hated to admit that Yuki made a valid point.

"Yeah ok. The VP might be a better idea anyway." He seemed to be very level headed.

"There is really nothing we can do tonight though…" Yuki trailed off.

"Sorry about that. You should go back to sleep." I said, glancing at her.

"It's ok I am not really tired. The nightmares are starting to bother me." She said. She looked upset by her private fears.

"Then can I ask you a question?" I didn't want to be so forward, but I needed to know so I could better grapple with my fear.

She beamed at me, as if happy to take on her sibling role. I hated that look. It made me aware of the fact that she regarded herself as my sibling. "Sure! Go ahead." Her smile never left her face.

I rethought my position on the matter. Wording this in a way she could understand would be difficult. "Do you think of me as your brother?" I blurted. So much for edging around the question.

She looked a little taken aback, then thoughtful. "Not really, I mean we have been living together until recently but…" She paused to think, and then voiced the question I feared the most. "Where did this come from all of the sudden?" She asked.

I grappled with a reasonable answer. Where _had_ this come from? "I just wonder, that's all." I said, then immediately regretted it. What a stupid answer!

She didn't question it and continued down her thought path "I see you as my friend, Zero. Does that answer your question?"

'_Not really.'_ I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth. "Yeah, thanks."

An awkward silence plagued us then, and I had no idea what to say next. My mind spun under the weight of a thousand questions. Not all of them were about Yuki and my own relationship; some were about Sayori and Aido. Their relationship, if one existed could be troublesome to everyone involved.

Like a spider spinning it's web the thought of me and Yuki being 'more-than-friends' carved itself into my brain, and every possibility, every strand of milky white thread became more than obvious. Even though the very idea was strange and new to me, I know, (even if I am not fully ready to admit it and the thought itself scares me a little), I know that I am in love with Yuki.

And, as she looks at me with her caring brown eyes, I wonder if my fears are justified.

A/n: Hiya! Mitsuki again! Hope you liked the latest installment! The relevance of the spider will be clear in later chapters, but for now you can keep guessing. This chapter was a little short, and I apologize. The next one will be longer. Stay tuned for _**Chapter Three: Hidden Ambitions. **_And as always READ AND REVIEW! NO FLAMES!


	3. Chapter three: Kaname Kuran

_I don't own vampire knight. End of story._

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

"The part of me that loved her faired little against my better judgment. I knew where my loyalties lie, and in the event that it broke into all out war; I knew who I would pledge my life for. I only hoped that Zero has decided what his role will be by that crucial point."

Kaname Kuran

Chapter three: Hidden ambitions

" To the reader,

Zero here. No, I am not abandoning you. But I believe that everyone needs a fair chance in telling this very complex story, and Kaname just happened to have his own story ready for you to hear. Although I hate the idea of giving Kaname anything, everyone wanted a chance at telling their own (mostly completely unrelated) stories, and he was first in line. So even though I don't like it, I will give Kaname his chance to entertain you while I shift through my own complicated thoughts.

For now I will leave you in his capable hands, and I will see you in the next chapter."

Zero Kiryu

Hello. My name is Kaname Kuran, and I was the head of the night dormitory at cross academy. I say 'was' only because to everyone at cross academy except the headmaster and Zero (not intentionally) I am believed to be dead.

I am sure this understanding confuses you, but worry not. I shall explain everything in good time. You see, I am a pureblood. A rarity. Everyone in my 

world, the world shrouded by a moon that is covered in blood worships me. I control their movements, even their thoughts. And it bothers me.

For so long my subconscious has been telling me that the purebred rule over the general vampire society is wrong. They deserve to be free, even if they don't realize that they are being controlled by our ambitions. But now my people stir, and a realization is changing their thoughts about everyone's place in this world. Vampires are becoming more accustomed to humans, and the humans remain blind to us.

My cousins, the other purebloods are restless. There is so much senseless fighting between us now; we are tearing each other apart. There are so few purebloods that this fighting will eventually destroy more than just pureblood families, it will destroy vampire society completely.

My alleged 'death' was not intentional, although I did bend it to my will. I know it is wrong of me to twist the emotions of my comrades, but there opinion of me matters little. It is Yuki that I constantly worry about. This loss, even as temporary as I plan it to be, must have come as a great shock to her.

Bato does not know that I survived, which means that the vampire council presumes me dead also. How could I have survived such a devastating attack from another pureblood? It's impossible.

This war that shocks my people will reveal many things. The hidden ambitions of the council will be revealed very soon. Batos attack made it very clear that the pureblood families were no longer friends. That there was no more friendliness in our so called alliances.

The thought of having to hide like this did not please me. I stayed at another home of headmaster cross, buried deep in a large city. It is a convenient 

location and I don't draw much attention. It was a quaint little one bedroom apartment with a desk large enough to research.

Zero stopped by every once in a while to bring me bits of information. At first, I didn't want him in on everything that is happening, but he and I are so much alike that I couldn't possible keep him in the dark. Even if I wanted to.

The night that I 'died' Zero and I had talked. He didn't understand my instruction which was to be expected but I never expected him to follow me. A royal's death was supposed to be somewhat dignified after all. So when I stopped, to take one last look at the academy (secretly hoping to catch one last glance at Yuki) he caught me.

He didn't accuse me of lying; he just very calmly asked why I was doing this. I told his as much information as was absolutely necessary. He seemed to understand. Zero was smarter than he let on.

He would never believe me, if I told him this, but I knew even before he knew that he was in love with Yuki. The way he looked at her made it more than obvious. He could deny the inevitable all that he wanted, but the fact remained that he loved her.

I love her too, of course I do. She is the kind of person who draws this kind of attention to her by having a pure innocent heart. She will do anything to protect the ones she loves, even donate her own blood to keep Zero sane. (That thought infuriated me, but I will touch on that subject later.)

In the end though the part of me that loved her faired little against my better judgment. I knew where my loyalties lie, and in the event that it broke into all out war; I knew who I would pledge my life for. I only hoped that Zero has decided what his role will be by that crucial point.

Because even though I can't, someone is going to have to fight on her side.

And don't give me that look. I am not the bad guy for abandoning her. Yuki is human, and I have known this all along. She is too fragile to become a vampire, too kind. She is mine, and she will always be mine because she had pledged her heart to me. But that does not mean that we are ever going to be together.

I know who I am, what I am. I have come to terms with the fact that in the end I will be of little use to the girl that I love. The least (or more the only) thing I can do for her is save Zero Kiryu.

I was writing a letter now, absently while my thoughts idled on Yuki. It would be my explanation for everything that has transpired, and my final apology to Yuki for betraying her in this way. I know she loves me with all her heart, but I just can't love her. Not now, not ever. And that is a fact that will never change.

To my dear Yuki,

I am sure that you hate me, upon hearing that I am not truly dead. I apologize. Now that Shizuka Hio is destroyed, our carefully balanced vampire world is deteriorating. Everything that I have known my whole life is now forced into the open, needing to be re-evaluated. Bato will be avenged, please do not try and bear that burden. And when the war between the vampires is over I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me for deceiving you. I love you Yuki Cross, and even when I die truly, I will always love you. I will fight 

the councils rule to my very last heartbeat, and I will keep Zero alive by giving him my blood. I know you may not understand this letter fully, but in time I am confident that Zero will fill in the pieces for you. I just want you to know, that in the deepest regions of my black heart, I love you. And that will never change.

Yours truly and sincerely,

Kaname Kuran.

I bit my own tongue and sealed the letter. When Zero comes tomorrow I will tell him everything. I will tell him that Bato has sealed his fate, and that I am going to end the council's violent oppressive reign. I will tell him my plans to expose the years of abuse that the purebloods like me have been forcing on our own brothers. And I will tell him that I intend to die in the process.

I am no noble man, I am a coward. Rather than face the truth that Yukis feelings for me are shifting away from love, as her feelings for Kiryu grow exponentially, I am willing to throw my life away on a slightly justified cause. Bato, my family and every other pureblood who has ever posed a threat to other vampires or humans would have to die by my hands.

I have thought of the consequences, many times over. The fact that if I were to kill the purebloods, who act as the force that keep the untamed needs of the vampires at bay, then the world itself would fall to chaos. But if Yuki were to love Zero, then, as Zero is a target for the council already, she would become a target also.

I just could not stand by and let this happen. I loved her too much to watch her be hunted and killed by Zero Kiryu's vampire hunter brethren. And I could 

not watch her be crushed when he himself fell to a level E vampire. I stuffed the letter in a drawer and tried to push it out of my mind.

Before all of this was over, I knew that Yuki, Zero, Headmaster Cross, and maybe Cross academy entirely would be destroyed.

And my decisions in the next few days would decide whether I would fight for the headmaster ideals, or watch the academy burn to the ground at the hands of my brothers.

There was a knock at the door, and none other than Kayashi Matsumi stood before me. I knew the names of all the pureblood, something my parents have been forcing me to learn ever since I was a small child.

"Fine evening, cousin." She greeted me with a sharp toothed smile.

"Very fine, Kayashi" I agreed. "How did you find me here?" My face betrayed nothing; I didn't give a single thought away.

"Who do you think I am cousin?" She asked softly. "I followed your scent trail of course." She giggled.

"That does not explain to me why you are here. What do you want, and how do you know I am still alive?" I asked her very calmly.

"I read Zero Kiryu's mind, of course." She shrugged as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

I had forgotten about Kayashi's little gift. Some vampires were endowed with powers that go beyond the normal speed, teeth, claws and senses. Kayashi herself possessed the power to read peoples mind, a very valuable power in the eyes of the vampire council.

"What do you need, Kayashi." I asked as she waltzed into the apartment.

"What do you think I need, dear Kaname?" She asked, plopping herself down on the white couch.

"I do not have the slightest idea, cousin." I answered.

"I am the new dorm president at Cross academy." She stated. "So what could I possibly need from the old dorm president?"

She was edging around my question, which worried me. "I want my uncle dead." She stated, flatly.

"Bato Hatake? You want him dead? Why?" I asked, of all her reasons I did not think that was one of them.

"Do you remember the long years I spent in the council's equivalent of jail?" She asked.

My father had read about it in the news. There was a huge buzz about it in the council. Apparently the pureblood Kayashi Matsumi attempted to murder the council members and succeeded in killing a few of them in the process. They found her in the forest surrounding her families' mansion.

She was covered in blood, crying as they dragged her to jail. The story was a huge scandal among the vampires, divided by the people who thought she should die and the people who thought she was innocent.

"I remember" I said.

"Well I was framed! I know you won't believe me, no one believes me, but Bato Hatake framed me!" She shouted, suddenly enraged.

"Calm down Kayashi. I never said I didn't believe you." I stated, shutting the door.

"He is planning on taking down the councils and the other purebreds and becoming ruler of the vampires, then eventually ruler of the humans too!" She looked as if she would cry.

"Not that you really need to know this, but I was planning the same thing. Of course I don't want to be the ruler of anything; I just want the purebloods grip on the vampire world to deteriorate." My methods seemed a little wrong now that I knew what Bato was really planning. "He managed to make the world believe that I was dead too."

"Yes, but you're not! Which means you can help me!" She shouted "I need to take him out Kaname. Now that he knows who is loyal to you, they are targets also. Aido, Kaine, the VP, Zero and even your precious Yuki Cross are in grave danger!" Her words were unconventional, but I knew that she was right.

"Fine, Kayashi. You have made your point and I have made your decision." I held my hand out to her "I will not stand idly by and watch Cross academy burn!"

She took my hand and shook it. "And I will kill my uncle!" She laughed slightly.

"But you must not tell Yuki that I am still alive." I warned her.

"Of course, I will keep your girlfriend out of this, if you help me control the night class." She said. Bargaining was apparently her strong point.

"Fine." I agreed, smiling at her despite my attempt at keeping a poker face. She smiled back at me.

"Let's get planning then, cousin!" She said, pulling out a list of locations where we could find other purebreds. "We can't do this alone! Maria has already agreed to help."

"Even though Marie is not technically a purebred?" I pointed out.

She pouted "Are you trying to ruin my fun for a reason cousin?"

I laughed outright. Maybe my plan would go a tad smoother if I did enlist some kind of help. My thoughts turned back to Yuki. What was she doing right now? Was she with Zero? What was she thinking?

Kayashi punched me playfully on the arm, interrupting my thoughts. "Let's get to work" She repeated, softer now. No dough she had just read the worries swimming around my brain. "I am sure that she is just fine."

"Yeah" I agreed "I am sure."

A/n: Ok so this is the first sub-chapter (one of many to come.) Zero will handle the introduction to these bonus chapters, so no one gets confused. Well, you know what to do! READ AND REVIEW, AND REMEMBER NO FLAMES!


	4. Chapter four: Seki Konichi

I don't own vampire knight. End of story.

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

Mild sexual activity. You have been warned.

"Now was not the time for this. Her tears swayed me in a way I couldn't seem to comprehend, and it wasn't her blood that seemed to be swimming in my veins."

Zero Kiryu

Chapter four: Tentative confessions

She yawned, loud enough for me to think it obnoxious. I think she might have been purposefully trying to get my attention; then again she wasn't that smart. Either way her intrusive noise woke me out of my fantasy. This was the third night in a row that she had stayed with me, and I absently wondered if her roommate had noticed yet.

I noticed her watching me. "What?" I mumbled, rolling over and pulling the covers over my head.

"Nothing." Yuki said, I could hear her climb off the side of the bed. "Are you getting up soon?" She asked, standing beside my bed.

"No." I stated, flatly. I could see the face she would make at me in my mind; she would scrunch her nose and try her best to glare. I knew her too well. "Why should I?" I asked.

"School will start soon. You can't laze around whenever you please." She said matter-of-factly. It was kind of funny that she worried so much about school, considering she had the lowest grade point average. Her test scores were almost at an embarrassing level.

"Don't patronize me. I'm not going today, ok?" I said hoping she would let it drop. I should have known better, by now.

"Zero Kiryu!" She yelped, outraged. I rolled my eyes and sat up, for her sake. She took on a different tone. "Are you feeling bad?" She asked, softly now.

"I'm fine." I lied. I didn't want her getting all blood-happy so early in the morning. It wasn't bloodlust that was making me feel this way. "I just think that I need some space." I said. It seemed a reasonable enough answer, all things considered.

When she answered, she sounded hurt. "O-oh" She said "Ok Zero, I will talk to you later then." She left, and I made no move to stop her. I didn't like hurting her feelings, but what else was I 

expected to do? Tell her? Now that Kuran was…incapacitated so-to-speak, I don't have any reason to hide things from her but…it isn't as easy as it sounds.

I stood up to get dressed. The least I could do was come to school. It wasn't like it would kill me,_ yet. _The hallways were already crowded, aside from the fact that it was much too early in the morning for any kind of activity.

On my way to my first class I ran into Sayori. She was huffing and puffing, and ran into me at full speed. I noticed the tiered rings around her eyes, and the bandage on her neck. She smiled a sly smile at me. "Morning, Kiryu. Did you talk to Yuki?" She asked. I imagined that it was an attempt to distract me from the truth.

"Yeah." I mumbled. Whatever was going on with Sayori was not something I could deal with on my own.

"So how is she?" She asked.

"Fine. I pissed her off this morning, but it wasn't a big deal." I said, looking away from her.

"Kiryu…" she warned, glaring at me.

I ignored her and went to class. I wasn't in the mood to argue. Yuki was talking to a student I had never noticed before. He seemed friendly, his brown hair curling atop his head; his eyes were the same color as Yuki's though they seemed darker. I strained a little to hear what they were saying.

"Yeah…not far from here…a little village…kind people." I couldn't make out anymore of what he was saying due to the crowd of students who had just entered the room. Sayori told the boy he was in her seat and he fervently apologized, walking to the front of the classroom. 'Could he be a transfer student?' I thought.

Part of a disciplinary student duties were to care for the transfer students. (This was one of the duties I especially disliked.) Of course, if Yuki knew he was a transfer student, why didn't I? The boy had reached the teachers desk now and had introduced himself in a quite tone. The teacher stood, slowly and introduced him to the class "Class, this is Seki. He is a new student and I would like everyone to make him feel welcome." As an afterthought, the teacher glared at me "Especially you, Kiryu." Yuki giggled a few rows down.

I didn't answer, but I knew what the teacher was insinuating. I wasn't the most caring student, in fact, most of the day class students were afraid of me. The teacher sat the boy on the opposing side of Yuki, which furthered my hostility. I didn't need _another_ nuisance to deal with; the vampire pureblood would be troublesome enough. And I especially didn't need a love rival.

Yuki caught me after fifth period. The transfer student trailed behind her awkwardly, as if he didn't know what to make of her talking to me. "I forgot to mention the day class transfer student in all the mess yesterday!" She said, smiling that typical smile at me.

"Yeah, I noticed." I mumbled. I hoped that she didn't step any closer to me, I could already feel my fangs protruding from my gums. Why did her blood have such a negative effect on me?

The transfer student, in an attempt at chivalry, tried to rescue Yuki from me by stepping in front of her and extending his hand towards me. I glanced at it, then simply turned and walked away. I heard Yuki mumble an apology on my behalf, but she didn't follow me this time.

I didn't honestly care what either of the new students thought of me. Well really, I didn't care what anyone thought of me. It took nearly a whole afternoon for Yuki to find me on the floor of the headmaster's bathroom. Maybe one of these days I would fix the broken lock myself, so I wouldn't have to worry about her.

"What is your problem?" She asked, standing and looking down on me, an annoyed expression on my face.

"Problem?" I repeated. Her voice sounded oddly far away. It must have been the blood rushing in my ears.

"Yes, why were you mean to the transfer student? He is really nice." She said, softer. She sat down beside me on the cold tile. "You have been acting really strangely lately. I don't understand." She said, looking concerned.

"I'm sorry." I said. She was the only one who ever made me feel guilty, and I hated it. She took my hand and pressed it against her face, gently.

"You're still the same as you were back then." She said, I automatically knew she was speaking of when we met. "Still fragile, I almost think that, if I touch you, then you will shatter." She looked upset. I sighed as guilt exploded in my chest. I could be miserable and no one would care, but it was something else to make her miserable too.

"I'm not the same." I said, my fangs growing as we spoke. "I'm a monster now, remember? A beast in human form." I stated.

She looked at me, her brown eyes piercing me. Her body trembled slightly, and I figured that I was either in for an angry rant, or a sob-fest. She did neither, just simply dropped her hand and clenched the edge of her school uniform jacket.

Quietly, so quiet I could have imagined it; she whispered "I never thought you were a monster. I don't think that now, either." She stared at her hands. I didn't really want to argue, but I would rather her be angry at me than upset.

"Yet you still tremble when I take your blood." I said, watching her. "You still tremble when you touch me. I know you were afraid of Kaname Kuran." It was the wrong answer to my own question, I know, but it was all I had.

She looked at me now, a sharp glower that I had never seen "You don't know anything, Zero. I- I …" She stopped to re-evaluate her initial approach "When are you going to understand that you are not Kaname and that I don't spend my time comparing you to him." She stood up and stopped out of the room, slamming the door shut.

I sighed. This was just getting complicated. Now was not the time for this. Her tears swayed me in a way I couldn't seem to comprehend, and it wasn't her blood that seemed to be swimming in my veins. It was her essence. I couldn't get enough of her now, and yet I kept trying to push her away. This situation was almost sadistic, on my part.

That night I lied awake and thought of her. Was I really still fragile? I know more than she does that the first few months I lived with Yuki and the headmaster I was broken. What did you expect from someone who had lost their whole family and their humanity in the same night? But I thought that, after all these years I had grown out of my fragility. I thought that I had grown stronger.

Then another thing she had said crossed my mind. Did I spend my time comparing myself to Kaname? I didn't want to think that I did. Kaname was my only real competition for Yuki's attention, so it was only natural that I envied him. I stood up. My attempt at sleep was futile, so I headed out of my room and down the hallway.

I aimlessly found myself outside, wandering around the grounds. The night class was still taking classes for the time being, which meant I had the outside to myself. It was a quite peaceful starry night, the kind of night that made me think being a vampire might not be so bad.

My aimless walking took me back to the dorm, and by the time I realized where I was I found myself standing in front of Yuki's dorm room. I figured that Sayori would be elsewhere, so I tentatively knocked at the door. It only took Yuki a few seconds to answer; she had a towel wrapped around her head and her hair dripping on the carpet.

"What are you doing up so late?" She asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." I said, looking away from her. I didn't know why I ended up here of all places. Or, maybe I did know, I just didn't want to admit it.

"I wanted to take a bath." She shrugged, although I could see the red in her eyes, left over from quite a bit of crying.

"I couldn't sleep. Look, Yuki…I am sorry about what I said." Sharing feelings had never been my forte'.

"It's ok, Zero. I understand that you were upset." She said "I shouldn't have gotten so angry about the transfer student thing." She smiled then "I should know by now that you are just like that." She playfully punched me in the arm.

"Yuki…" I warned. I hated it when she hit me; it was another form of sibling rivalry.

She chuckled "Sorry. Do you want to come in? Sayori isn't here, as usual." She said, sliding out of my way. I figured that eventually the headmaster would wise up to me and Yuki's minor transgressions (it clearly states in the school handbook that once curfew has fallen students are not allowed to see the opposite sex) we were especially not allowed to make unsolicited trips to the opposite sexes dorm.

"What were you and the transfer student talking about before class?" I asked, honestly curious.

"Oh! I asked him about the town he came from. He said it was small and secluded, from what he described it sounds like a very beautiful place. So I told him about where the headmaster and I used to live up in the mountings." She said.

"What about after that?" I asked, attempting to keep the conversation flowing to avoid awkward pauses. "When you saw me in the hallway?"

She seemed to be thinking about it. "He wanted to know more about you. Specifically he wanted to know why you were so hostile…" She trailed off, still a little upset. I apologized again, even though I knew she would forgive me regardless.

"He was curious about me?"I asked, a little confused.

"Well not necessarily…" She was obviously keeping something from me. I glared at her.

"What are you not telling me?" I asked. A blush crept across her face, and she stared at her nightstand instead of at me.

"Well he…um…thought that you were going to…" She couldn't continue.

"What? Hit him?" I asked, feeling a little annoyed.

"Not him." She said, her eyes dropping to the floor.

My thoughts came to an abrupt halt, and I could barely form my next sentence. "He. Thought. I. Was. Going. To. _Hit you?" _I snarled out, grinding my teeth together.

She waved her arms around frantically! "Don't worry! He doesn't know you like I do, I explained it to him as best I could and he seemed to understand. He apologized for being rash!" She yelped, sensing my anger.

I seethed. Of all the things I was capable of, I would _NEVER _do anything like that to Yuki. Although now I did have an incredible urge to kill the new student. The awkward silence enveloped us. "What else did he say?" I asked, trying my best to be calm.

"Nothing. He just said that you seemed very angry and irrational." She said, still anxious. I did have the tendency to fly off the handle.

"Irrational?" I repeated. He had only spoken to me for mere seconds, how did he come to these strange conclusions? I looked at her seriously then "there is something else?" I guessed.

"Well he just…said that he…didn't think that you would make a good…friend." She stuttered, the blush increasing in intensity on her face. Yuki was never good at lying, and I immediately interpreted what she didn't say. He had told her that I wasn't a good boyfriend. I wondered if he knew just how far up the wrong tree he was barking.

Her embarrassment intrigued me, and I stood up. She looked at me, wondering what I was doing. I caught both her hands and pushed her down onto the bed, pressing my forehead against hers. I could feel her light breathing against my cheeks, and her hands clamped shut around mine.

I opened my mouth, my fangs at their peak, but it wasn't the bloodlust that drove me to pin her down. "Yuki" I started, amused that she hadn't yet asked me if I was feeling ok. "You know that I would never even dream of hurting you, don't you?" I asked as she shifted underneath me.

Her blush deepened. "Of course Zero. I am not afraid of you." She said, answering the question I had half-asked in the bathroom. I pressed her further into the bed.

"I would hope that you had more trust in me than that." I chuckled into her skin.

"He doesn't know you." She said, closing her eyes. There was a burning in my throat now, which I chose to ignore. This moment was too perfect to coat in blood. I closed my eyes as well and 

settled where I was, hovering over her slightly our foreheads touching. I was aware of her leg that brushed up against my hip, and her hands which were tightly squeezing mine. "Yeah. He doesn't." I agreed, although I had somewhat lost track of what were we talking about. Her breath was warm and soft, and it tickled my nose a bit.

"You should have more confidence in yourself, Zero." She said, suddenly. I opened my eyes, confused.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You keep bringing up Kaname, as if you think that you mean nothing compared to him. Are you jealous?" She whispered.

"Jealous?" I repeated. Was I jealous of Kaname Kuran? Of course not…right? "Maybe." I admitted, just as quietly.

"You shouldn't be. I never compared you to him. Not even when we lived in the mountings. She said, sighing her breath puffed up into my nose and I inhaled it, memorizing the scent. I bit my lip, drawing blood.

"I know." I said, breathing in her essence. "I don't care." I opened my mouth to say more, but a loose drop of blood fell from my fang and landed just under her right eye. I must have bitten my lip harder than I meant to.

"Zero you're…" She trailed off. I, without thinking, had leaned down and ran my tongue over her eye, licking up the blood-droplet. "Zero…" She mumbled. Her blush deepened, if that was even possible.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered, but I didn't move. Instead I tightened my grip on her hands. "For everything." I said.

"Please, don't be sorry." She said. She was staring straight into my eyes now and I got lost in them. "I don't mind, I promise." She said, straining to turn her gaze from me. She pressed the side of her face against the pillow, giving me clear view of her neck.

I moaned. Why was she doing this to me? She looked back up at me, confused by my reaction.

"What?" she asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Don't turn your neck to me." I said, sighing. "It's like putting your hand in a lion cage, and expecting not to get mauled."

She giggled "You sound so morbid. I don't mind being bitten, if it means that I can help you, even if it is only temporary" She said, smiling again.

I tried not to look into her eyes again, but I couldn't help it. "You don't know how much I mind it though, having to hurt you." I said. "It's sickening." My eyes had turned dark, and the earlier atmosphere had somewhat dissipated.

"You're so melodramatic." She mumbled. The clock ticked somewhere on her nightstand, it was an annoying intrusive sound. "You're too hard on yourself." She said. "You mean everything to me, Zero. I want to do what I can to protect you."

Her words confused me slightly. I once again found myself wondering what she thought of me. "I don't need you to protect me. If anything, you need to be protected, troublemaker." I joked, smiling down at her. She shrugged it off, and shifted once again. Her legs settled together, knees touching in between mine.

I absently moved her hands above her head until her pinky fingers touched. "Zero?" She mumbled, looking away from me.

"Yes?" I said, staring down at her.

"Nothing." She said, backtracking on her original thought. "Tomorrow the transfer student, Seki, asked me if I wanted to hang out with him, since it is an on campus free day." She said.

If there was one thing I hated most about Cross academy, it was the on campus free days. It was a time when the day class was allowed to wander around the grounds, flirt and do other things that teenagers do. It was annoying, and I usually spent my free days holed up in my room, left to ponder my thoughts alone.

My initial annoyance returned "doesn't he think that you spending time with another guy would anger your _'boyfriend?'_" I asked, air quoting the word that the transfer student had used to describe me as.

"I think that is the point." Yuki said, running her index finger along the creases in my palm.

"He is pretty brave, isn't he." I said. I was so used to humans fearing me that I didn't really know how to act when faced with a challenge. It wasn't like I could pull my 'Bloody Rose' gun on him in broad daylight like I did when I attempted to control the vampires.

"I guess you could call it that" she said, shrugging again. I wondered what she thought of the new student's accusations. Her soft finger was still tracing the inside of my hands, and it was beginning to distract my thoughts. Her fingernail trailed down my blue vein, and then she 

squeezed my hand harder than before. I didn't understand what she was doing, but I didn't mind. My anger ebbed away. "What do you think?" She asked me, watching me carefully.

"I think that I have no right to control your actions, and that you can do what you want." I said. Apparently that was not the comment she was looking for, she scrunched her nose up. "What do you want me to say, Yuki?" I asked, closing my eyes again and concentrating on her breath.

"I want you to say that you want to spend time with me tomorrow." She said. I could feel her gaze on my face. "Or at least say that you would follow me around, when I was with Seki, acting all sulky and angry like you usually do. At least then I would know that you are feeling ok." She said, completely serious.

"Are you worried about me, Yuki?" I asked her. She wriggled under me uncomfortably, so I released her hands and rolled off in order to give her some space. She made an annoyed noise, and rolled on top of me, placing her hands back in mine. She positioned herself so that she was able to lay flat on me and press her face into my neck, gently.

"Yes" she mumbled into my neck, causing Goosebumps to rise on my flesh.

"You shouldn't be." I assured her. By now, the first signs of dawn were peaking through the trees. Normally, Yuki and I would be up monitoring the night class as they returned to the moon dorm, but for now, until the new president of the moon dorm got settled, the large iron gates remained permanently locked, and the night students safely on the other side of the wall.

"But I am, and I can't help it." She said. "You're so helpless. I told you this before, without me, you couldn't do anything." She chuckled, apparently just kidding. I didn't answer her; I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment. "Zero?" she asked, looking up at me.

"I don't know what you expect me to say." I mumbled. She leveled her face to mine so she could look at me with a stern expression. Her fingernails dug into my knuckles now, proving her sudden intensity.

Just as she opened her mouth to answer my question, a loud knock sounded at her door. She automatically froze, thinking it was Sayori and that we were about to be caught. I released her hands from my hold, ignoring the fact that I could have stayed like that forever. Or more so ignoring the fact that I _wanted_ to stay like that forever.

She pushed herself off of me, and I stood up. I straightened out my uniform where her body had creased it and pretended to look casual. I didn't notice the fact that you could clearly see both of our outlines in the bed sheets, considering we had lain in the same position for about seven hours now.

She pulled the towel off her head and shook her hair out, dropping the towel in the corner of the room. The knock sounded again. This time, she opened the door before the knocker had finished.

"Hello?" She said, peering out of the door, tentatively.

The transfer student stood in the hallway, casually dressed in beige cargo shorts and a white tee-shirt with a black collar. "Hey!" He greeted her, grinning until he noticed me.

I smiled in return, an angry strained smile that showed just how much I didn't like him. "Hey" I greeted, complexly ready to ruin his day with Yuki. I had to admit that he was brave, coming up to her room even though he thought she had a boyfriend. Although, in his case at least, there was a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

He smiled a slight smile, and then looked at Yuki for some kind of support. Yuki just smiled and stated "Zero will be accompanying us today. Hope you don't mind." She giggled. I got the feeling that she didn't like the transfer student anymore than I did.

"Great." Seki said, eyeing me. I couldn't help but smile, and even though Yuki didn't get any sleep, she looked more contented than I had seen her since Kaname 'died.'

I couldn't help but take satisfaction in the fact that I was the one who made the smile return to her face. And for once, I couldn't wait for the days that lied ahead.

A/n – Hiya! Mitsuki here again! Hope you liked the latest installment. Yuki and Zero are getting closer, and Zero is becoming more unable to ignore his feelings for her. In the next chapter_, Chapter four: The afterthought _you will find out Seki's true intentions, and Zero might just spill some of his feelings. Well as always please READ AND REVIEW (COMMON IT ONLY TAKES LIKE TWO SECONDS TO DO!) NO FLAMES. See you next time!


	5. Chapter five: Ruka Souen

I don't own vampire knight. End of story.

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

Contains massive amounts of violence and death. You have been warned.

"For a moment I lost control of who I was and acted solely on impulse. I was aware of the screaming, but that didn't stop me from spilling blood, and after it was all over, there was nothing I could do save lay down and die."

Zero Kiryu

Chapter five: The afterthought

I shouldn't have felt like a third wheel around Yuki and Seki, but I did. She wasn't ignoring me, per say, but she was very into what Seki was saying. He was telling her about his village and about his parents. Apparently they had been vampire hunters too.

She mentioned a few times about my parents, but he brushed the subject off. The strangest part was that he acted like he didn't know who my parents were which was suspicious considering that my parents were the most famous vampire hunters out there.

I didn't trust Seki. He made me uncomfortable, for reasons I didn't understand. We wandered around the grounds idly, enjoying the sunlight. (Or at least they were.) I would have enjoyed some peace and quiet, and I was beginning to regret agreeing to come along. I wasn't even accomplishing my goal of ruining Seki's day.

I was just listening.

He spoke of an abandoned vampire who came to his village, for reasons he didn't understand. She begged his parents to kill her, but her parents, because of her plea refused. They said that if she had the ability to feel remorse for her actions then she must not have been a bad vampire. I snorted when he said this "there are no such things as 'good' vampires." I stated.

Yuki gave me that look again. "Zero…" she mumbled. "Don't say things like that." She knew I was talking about myself, along with every other vampire out there.

"Yeah. Sorry, I forgot." I said, looking away from her. Why did she have to sympathize with the vampires anyway? All they did…no, all I did was bring her inner and outer pain, I didn't deserve her sympathy.

Seki ignored our conversation and continued with his own story. He said that his parents took the vampire in so that she could live amongst humans and one day learn to be friends with them. He said that he was never comfortable around the vampire girl, and that he never trusted her.

One day his parents went out on a routine hunting trip and left him alone with the vampire girl. He said that he locked himself in his room and hid where he thought she couldn't find him. He said that by the time his parents got home the vampire girl was gone, and none of them had seen her since.

"To this day I wonder what happened to her, and I wonder why she left. Those whole two months were very abnormal." He said, shaking his head from side to side. "I am very glad that the headmaster agreed to take me in as a new student, and I look forward to working with you." He smiled at Yuki.

I stopped in my tracks. "Working with her?" I repeated, confused. He couldn't possibly mean that the headmaster had added him to the school disciplinary committee, could he?

Yuki turned to look at me. "Oh Zero! I thought I told you!" She said, looking embarrassed "Headmaster Cross thought that we might need help now that Kaname is gone. He said that Kaysha does not have the commanding presence that Kaname had, so she will need assistance with the problem students like Aido." She said.

A snarl escaped from my lips before I could help it. "We didn't need Kaname's help, and we certainly don't need yours." I growled at Seki "How much could a low-bar amateur vampire hunter help in the first place?" I snapped.

"Zero! His parents are high on the vampire hunter list, according to the headmaster. They are not far under your old master, in regards to taking down dangerous vampires!" Yuki said, glancing at Seki as if she was trying to keep the peace between us.

"Yeah!" Seki snapped "I am not an amateur!" He said, but I ignored him. I caught Yukis arm and pulled her off the sidewalk and into the trees.

I leaned down so I could talk in her ear, in case Seki decided to eavesdrop "He doesn't know, does he? About me?" I asked. If Seki knew I was a vampire, then I would have no choice but to kill him. For all I know, he could be a spy from the hunter society, waiting to kill me when I fall to a level 'E' vampire.

"No, of course he doesn't. Kaysha knows though, but the headmaster wasn't the one who told him." She said, shaking her head from side to side "We will always keep your secret, Zero. You need to learn to trust us." She said her voice soft.

I felt something cold and metallic touch my temple, and heard a 'click.' I glanced at Seki, who was pointing a vampire gun point blank at me. He had some nerve; did he think I was going to let him shoot me with that thing? He must be some kind of fool.

"Seki, don't!" Yuki yelped. I had a hold of her wrists and had her pinned against a tree. Couldn't he see that she wasn't even struggling against my hold?

"Yes, boy. Don't." I warned, my voice coming out in a menacing snarl.

"Let her go." Seki said, his own warning coming out with a slight tremble. "Or I will shoot you." He added when he saw that I had no intentions of releasing my hold on Yuki.

"You really are an amateur, aren't you? A vampire gun cant harm a human, what do you plan to accomplish?" I asked. Yuki opened her mouth to argue, though I don't know which one of us she was going to argue with.

Seki spoke before she got a chance "It still hurts, being shot with anything hurts." Seki said, he was angry now.

Yuki cut in "Seki please, put the gun down. This isn't necessary, he isn't hurting me." She said. Though she put her hand on top of mine, I was too angry to let her go. I knew if I did, I was going to do something stupid. Something she would hate me for.

"I don't know that." Seki said, staring at my hands around her wrists. "I know you like him, Yuki, but he has no right to lay a hand on you."

I laughed now, openly. "First, she doesn't like me. Second, I can do what I want. If you really want to be a member of the disciplinary committee, you might want to pick your enemies carefully." I turned to glare down at him for a second, my eyes glowing blood red, before stomping off towards my dorm room.

I heard Yuki shout my name, but like last time, she made no move to follow me. I stalked off towards my room, shut myself in and locked the door. I pulled my Bloody Rose gun off my nightstand and headed back out the door.

The trip didn't take long, it only took a couple of hours to reach the hunter society archives. They were located a few towns over in a massive building that always bore the faint scent of blood. I pushed open the door and waltzed through in the same fashion my father said he used to, like I owned the place.

I got a lot of stares and murmurs pointed in my direction, but I didn't care. I reached the annex room and pulled it open. The doorknob jiggled, but it was locked. "Zero Kiryu, didn't expect to see you again." A voice sounded from behind me. I knew immediately that it was the leader of the hunter society. I turned to face her "I need the key." I stated, gruffly.

She laughed at me. "You are still as brazen as ever Kiryu." She said, smiling. The leader of the hunter society was the only one who still trusted me, even though I am now a vampire.

"Where's the key?" I asked again, I was in no mood to play games with her.

She revered me with disdain "What are you looking for? Or should I say, who are you looking for?" She asked.

"I want to look up a hunter." I stated.

She rolled her eyes at me "Couldn't have figured that one out on my own, thank you for the insight though." She said, rolling her eyes at me. Despite her sarcasm she pulled a golden key out of her pocket and thrust it in the lock.

The annexes were a large collection of information on all the hunters, it had birth dates, detailed records of every kill made, the information of heritage and why they became hunters to begin with. "I am looking for someone named Seki" I said.

"The last name would help" She said, pulling out a drawer full of files. She flipped through them with her long, sharp fingernails.

"The teacher never mentioned his last name. I haven't heard of him, so he has to be a fairly new hunter. His parents were hunters too." I said. Before I had even finished, she pulled a manila file out and handed it to me "Seki Konichi" She said "They are two slots down from your master on the hunter pyramid." She said.

The hunter pyramid was a record of how many kills a hunter had made, and how many human lives they had saved. My master has been the number one hunter since before my parents died. "Good for them." I muttered angrily. I flipped through the file; it was all typical information, very standard hunter records.

"Are looking for something specific?" She asked. She must have had another file in the top secret section of the library.

"I want to know more about him. I don't trust him." I said. She was the only member of the hunter society that I would trust enough to talk seriously to.

"As you should, follow me." She said locking the annex room back. She led me down a dark hallway; we climbed under caution tape and headed to the very last door. It was large and iron, held shut by chains. She pulled off the necklace she was wearing from which dangled a large iron key. She popped the lock over and the chains receded back into the door, the lock fell into her hand and she stuck it in her trench coat pocket. "Come on." She said, heading through the door. This room was completely different from the annex; the walls were lined with silver drawers which were all locked with different shaped locks. Each drawer was labeled with a name and a hunter code.

We passed the one labeled 'Zero Kiryu – 000003482' I knew what my top secret file contained, it contained information about Shizuka Hio and details on my becoming a vampire. She stopped at the drawer labeled 'Seki Konichi – 1248798360' His code made me wonder how many secret files were in this room. She unlocked the drawer with a small silver key and pulled out a blood red file.

I didn't know much about the top secret room, but I knew what blood red meant. My heart skipped a beat and my blood ran cold, she handed me the file but I already knew what it said. I didn't need to read it, I had read my own file and I knew his would be essentially the same.

Blood red means that he was attacked by a vampire. He also means that he was turned in the mayhem. She looked sadly at me, misconstruing my anger for sympathy "His parents were foolish enough to take in a young vampire female. She betrayed them in the end." She said, shaking her head from side to side "As it were with your file, he was the only survivor. Unlike you though, he seems to be able to hold down the blood tablets, and has shown no signs of needing human blood to survive."

I flipped through this file, noting all the information he had edited from the story he told Yuki. Apparently his story is much more gruesome than he made it out to be. "He is…a vampire?" I said, shocked. Of all the reasons why I didn't trust Seki, this was not the reason I expected.

My hand stopped on a page and I froze in my spot. In one moment of clarity everything seemed to click together. The reason Bato had attempted to kill Kaname, the reason Kaysha and Seki transferred at the same time, the reason Seki seemed _so_ interested in Yuki. The answer seemed so clear I wanted to slap myself.

In my dream the voices had said that Kaysha was a relative of Bato Hatake, and that she killed her family. But it wasn't her who killed her family, it was Bato. He was picking off purebloods so his own family could advance in the world. He cast Kaysha off to find a follower who could help her infiltrate the school and, since he knew he couldn't kill Kaname, he wanted to kill everyone and anyone who was close to him.

He knew that I was somewhat loyal to Kaname, because he gave me his blood a few times to keep me from falling to a level 'E' but the most sickening realization that Bato must have made is that Kaname loves Yuki.

Before the society leader was able to say anything more I fled the room and ran at full speed back towards the academy. Kaysha had murdered Seki's parents and ordered him to make friends with the headmaster and Yuki for the sole purpose of getting them to let their guard down so that he could kill them!

And the worst part is that he knows I am a vampire.

By the time I reached the academy night had fallen and I had no idea where to look for Yuki or Seki. I sniffed around frantically, trying to pick up her scent. My anger was clouding my vision, how could I have not realized this sooner? Now I am the one who feels like an amateur.

I slammed my fist into the nearest tree, breaking it in half. "Something troubling you, discipline committee member Zero Kiryu?" A nearby voice asked. My first thought was that it was Aido, which I probably would have shot him if it had been Aido standing behind me. Instead, it was Kain Akatsuki, Aido's cousin.

"Have you seen Yuki?" I asked. I didn't like Kain, but he was a hell of a lot more cooperative than Aido would have been.

"Yeah, she and some brown haired guy wandered by here about an hour ago. They headed towards the old teachers building, Shiki is following them." He said. I had no time to wonder why Shiki was following them, or remember which vampire he was.

I didn't bother to thank him, instead I ran off towards the old school building at full speed. I could hear Kain following me, but I never turned around. The old school building wasn't far from my position and I busted the front door down. Ruka, a vampire who was in love with Kaname stood in the main hallway "Akatsuki, finally you arrive." She said.

"Sorry Ruka, he wasn't on the school campus." He said, and I idly wondered if maybe this was a trap.

"Common, disciplinary member." Ruka said, and then she ran down the hallway to a basement stairwell. "Shiki went down to check it out, but he hasn't come back. I am getting worried." She said.

I wasn't listening, just running down the stairs as quickly as I could. This was the same basement that Shizuka Hio had hidden her body not too long ago. I stopped at the bottom and 

realized that this was the same hallway I had been in my room, the hallway with Yuki's body in it.

My palms tingled. I was still aware of Kain walking behind me as I reached the bottom of the stairs. I could hear Yuki now, she was talking but I was so angry I couldn't hear what she was saying. I turned the corner and saw her; she was chained up to the wall in the same manner she had been in my dream. Seki was telling her that he didn't want to do this to her, but he had no choice. He said he couldn't go against Kayasha's orders, because she was the one who saved him from his empty life. Kain's body slid past me and he hit the concrete, blood pooling under his head.

"You're nosy, aren't you?" Kaysha whispered in my ear. I ignored her and surveyed the scene before me. The Artimis rod was in splinters sitting over in the corner (it was Yuki's weapon of choice) and by the awkward way Yuki was holding her arm I could tell that Seki must have broken it in an attempt to hinder her escape.

I could feel my blood boil, and my vampire fangs elongate. I had never been grateful to bare the qualities of a vampire save for this one particular moment. I glanced down at Kain '_is he dead?_' I wondered. Either way he was incapacitated and would be no help to me if it came to an all out battle.

I thrust my elbow backwards, hoping to make contact with Kayasha's stomach, naturally though, she dodged me easily. "Feisty aren't you? You're just as pathetic as Kaname Kuran, so attached to a stupid human. What is it with vampires in this academy?" She said, rolling her eyes.

I snarled at her as menacingly as I could manage. "How dare you touch Yuki? Were you sent here by Bato Hatake?" I asked. I had to make sure my accusations were correct, so I could make sure I was going to kill the right vampires.

"My uncle is a good man. He wants vampires to take back our world and kill off all the softies like you and Kaname Kuran" She spit in my face then turned to Seki "Do as you please with the girl, I will take care of the meddlesome vampires. From my understanding you and Kaname's little pet Ruka are the only ones left, right?" She said, glancing at me.

I ignored her once again and turned to Seki "Do.Not.Touch.Her." I snarled. Slowly, I was aware of my control ebbing away and soon I knew that I would no longer be able to suppress my primitive instincts.

Seki laughed at my vain attempt to discourage him from doing whatever it was he was planning to do. Yuki was too upset to say anything she just cried. Seki leaned forward on his 

tiptoes, opening his mouth to reveal his threatening incisors and the venom dripping from the sharp points.

I froze for a second when I realized what he was planning. His lips pressed headily against her flesh and he bit down on her neck, not far from her jugular. Yuki's blood smell hit me like a brick, shattering any resolve I might have had to keep things peaceful. In one shattered moment I lost control of who I was and acted solely on impulse. I was aware of the screaming, but that didn't stop me from spilling blood, I ran forward and in one swift movement severed Seki's head from his body.

My vision was splattered in blood and the only thing I was still consciously aware of was Yuki's blood smell. I threw myself at Kaysha and although I knew it wouldn't be easy, but still I snapped at her viciously, aiming to kill. She smacked me away like I was a fly "Filthy level 'E' vampire, keep your grubby paws off of me!"

Somewhere in what little part of my consciousness I had left that word struck a nerve. 'Level E?' I was no level E vampire, nor would I be, but I couldn't shake my anger, or the blood splatters lining my vision. I attacked Kaysha once more clawing at her face, she attempted to block my attack but it was futile.

I was mad with rage, Yuki's screaming was breaking through but I couldn't force myself to stop. I threw myself against Kaysha, thrusting my head into her stomach and cracking several of her ribs. I felt her claws in my stomach now, digging deeply into my organs and twisting around in my insides.

I could feel the blood and bile rise in my throat but my anger remained. It made me stronger, more dangerous, and stronger even than a pureblood. I gripped her throat and clenched my fingers around her jugular until my claws broke the skin and blood spewed out of the wound.

Her body crumpled to the ground in a heap and somewhere far away I heard a snapping sound and someone yelling 'let me go! Let me go!' I felt someone grip my sleeve and pull on me, begging me to stop. The presence was familiar, but the anger was still swimming in my brain.

I could feel the pulsing vein leaning against my back and smell the blood lurking just below the soft skin. I turned, grabbing onto whomever it was standing behind me and sunk my fangs deep into the flesh. I felt someone pull on my fangs and throw me against the opposing wall. The blood was familiar and warm, it was Yuki's and it was enough to make the anger dissipate.

The scene before me was gruesome. Seki lay in the corner, his head lying in the opposing corner. Kayasha's throat was ripped out and she was crumpled on the ground beside me. Yuki stood before me, her eyes wide with blood dripping down her neck. Shiki, the red haired 

vampire who followed the vice president away was holding her shoulders, keeping her steady. It was clear that he was the one who had pulled me off of her.

Kain was leaning against the entrance to the stairwell and Ruka stood before him licking the blood off his forehead in a surprisingly kind gesture (she was usually very cold-hearted.) I couldn't believe what I had done…what I now knew I was capable of doing, and after it was all over, there was nothing I could do save lay down and die.

I crawled forward, kneeling before Yuki. "You know what you have to do." I said. She told me long ago that if I were to ever become a level 'E' that you would kill me." I said. It was only fair, I had become a monster and slaughtered unmercifully. I bit Yuki without realizing it and I knew that if I was allowed to live, I would do it again.

"Zero" Yuki said, her voice trembling. "You can't possibly expect me to…shoot you." She said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I know I said I would…but you're talking to me…you're not a level 'E'" She said. She was right, I knew she was but for a moment I had fallen and that would happen again if I didn't watch out. It would happen again if I wasn't stopped.

"Yuki…I killed them, both of them and I didn't even realize what I was doing. If it happens again I think I would not be able to stop. I could kill you too, you know." I said, staring down at the floor and biting my lip. This was what I deserved, and I couldn't convince her to do it.

She dropped down to her knees even though Shiki moved to stop her and she held my head in between her hands "Zero you can't expect me to kill you. I trust you, and I told you before; I can stop you if I have to. You stopped now because you drank my blood that proves my theory! I can stop you!" She said.

"Yuki…I killed them." I said. My heart ached with each moment that passed. I couldn't have cared less about any other human or vampire who lived at this academy but I was a danger to Yuki, and that hurt me the absolute most.

"Zero" She said, in an attempt to distract me from my own reasoning's "Tell me how you feel about me." She said, pulling my head up so that I was looking her in the eye. "Please." She said, softly.

I couldn't believe what she had just asked me. How did I feel about her? For so long my thoughts had been nothing more than a jumbled mess, so much so that I couldn't sort one felling from the other. "W-what?" I asked. Her attempt at distraction had worked.

"You asked me the other day if I thought of you as my brother, and I thought about why you would have asked me that, and now I want to know the truth." She said.

Shiki had moved over to check on Kain, who looked like he would be alright after a few hours of rest. Ruka seemed like she would take good care of him if he needed it, and I was grateful to him for showing me where Yuki was despite the fact that it angered the pureblood. "I don't know what to tell you" I said, looking back at Yuki.

"Just tell me the truth Zero. You don't have to be afraid." She said. This wasn't fair of her to put me on the spot like this. I honestly didn't know what to tell her. I knew that I loved her, but it would be useless if I loved her and she didn't love me.

"I don't know Yuki, it was just a question." I said, looking away from her.

"Why don't you just tell her the truth, Zero? She needs to know." A familiar voice said from the stairwell.

Yuki's hands froze on my face, and an angry look crossed her features. It was Bato Hatake, leaning against the wall opposite Kain and Ruka and Shiki. "What are you doing here?" She asked without turning around.

"I wanted to know if you would help me, I am looking for an old friend of mine." He said.

Ruka snarled at her, but Kain covered her mouth to keep her quiet. Although he was a 'murderer' he was still a pureblood, and still able to control lesser vampires. "What are you talking about, murderer?" Yuki asked, still holding onto my face.

"I was wondering if you knew the whereabouts of your vampire lover, Kaname Kuran. You see, I just recently discovered that I was unsuccessful in killing him the first time, and was wondering if I could have another chance" He said, laughing.

If I could muster even an ounce of energy I would have attempted to kill him too, but I couldn't even move. Yuki however, (despite the fact that her arm was clearly broken and it seemed like she had a couple of broken ribs too) stood up to face him. "How dare you." She growled.

Without the Artimis rods magic, Yuki would fair little against Bato, but she didn't seem to care. Instead she walked right up to him and raised her hand, as if she meant to slap him. Bato laughed at her and I desperately strained against my own pain. I had to will myself to get up, and I had to stop her before she hit him and he killed her.

Shiki caught her before I had a chance to completely stand up. He pulled her back towards the wall, pinning her against himself and Kain. Even Ruka stood in front of her in an attempt to shield her. Bato tried a different approach "You were injured by a pureblood. I am surprised that you are not dead yet. She must have used a slower working poison, in order to make your 

death excruciatingly painful." He said laughing at me. The wound in my stomach burned, and I knew that he was speaking the truth.

He held his hand out and snapped his fingers "I, personally, would rather you die painful, but I want you to do it quickly." The minute he snapped his fingers the poison in me spread and I was unable to stand up, it only took minutes after I crumpled to the ground for me to black out.

The only thought remaining in my mind was that if Bato laid one hand on Yuki, I would kill him myself.

A/n – Mitsuki here! Hope you like the newest installment! Now that Seki and Kaysha are out of the way, how will Bato fair against the newly liberated members of the night class like Kain and Ruka? Slowly, all the vampires are beginning to make their allegiances known, and a battle like no other is beginning to brew. The only real question remains; which side will Kaname take? Well stay tuned for the next installment Chapter Five: To heal a broken…? 


	6. Chapter six: Aido Hanabusa

I don't own vampire knight. End of story.

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

"I would like to make this dedication out to my soul, whom I have left alone to rot in my body for all these years."

Aido Hanabusa

Chapter six: To heal a broken…?

"Dear reader,

Zero here again it is time for another one of the random (unimportant) characters to tell their stories. This one is going to be told by Aido Hanabusa, the one vampire whom I dislike even more than Kaname Kuran (imagine that?) I didn't pre-read his story before sending it off, so don't get mad at me if he writes something crazy! You know how Aido is...he has let all this Idol stuff go to his head, if you ask me. Stupid vampires…

Anyway I am getting off topic; I will see you in the next chapter. Oh and a warning for you: beware; he bites.

Zero Kiryu.

(This story takes place before Kaname 'dies')

It's not like I enjoy pissing Zero off…I just enjoy pissing Zero off. Of course it doesn't hurt that Yuki's blood is so delicious and that Zero is so jealous of anyone who gets near her. I don't think that flirting is a crime, do you?

Sadly though, my days of flirting seem to be coming to a halting end. A very unexpected fate, if you ask me. I never thought that I, Aido Hanabusa would _ever_ fall in love! Especially not with a human…

It all started a few weeks ago; don't ask me why I was wandering about during the day, my cousin had kicked me out of the room for being annoying 

(does he really expect anymore from me by now?) Anyway I had found myself wandering under the thick trees that lined the walkway when I met her.

She was resting against a tall tree with her eyes closed. I could see the veins pulsing beneath her skin, and I licked my lips. Kaname-sama was always getting onto me for biting humans but it was so irresistible, no matter how many blood tablets I took.

The girl was blonde and looked peaceful; her books were sitting in her lap. "Good morning, miss" I greeted, in an attempt not to scare her. I didn't like trying to play chase with my prey. She ignored me, which was something I wasn't used to. Normally the girls swooned all over me…well, not the vampire girls of course. They pretty much hate me, but the humans were so easily befuddled by me and I honestly loved the attention. I tried again "Good morning" I repeated, an annoyed edge to my voice.

She glanced at me now, looking uninterested. "Whatever" She mumbled. I blinked my eyes a few times, confused.

"What?" I asked. I wasn't used to the rejection, and it confused me. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't know the night students wandered around during the day." She said, curtly.

Her hostility was annoying "Yeah well I was kicked out of my room." I said. I didn't know why I was explaining this to her. Maybe because no girl had ever been mean to her before, and I wanted everyone to love me. Yeah, I really was that vain. (I'm working on it now though, so don't worry.)

"Oh" she said, simply. I didn't like her attitude, so I did the last thing she wanted. I sat down beside her. She glared at me "I don't remember wanting company." She said, sighing.

"And I don't remember doing anything to warrant your hostile attitude" I stopped…I was starting to talk like Kaine. Gross. "Let me rephrase that. Why are you being so cruel to me?" I asked, using the puppy dog innocent face that I usually used on Kaname.

"I don't even know you and I certainly don't know what you're talking about." She said, picking up her books and walking away. I wasn't letting her get away that easily. I stood up and followed after her.

"Hey wait! What's your name?" I asked, honestly curious.

"It's none of your business, and your smile is creeping me out." She said, glancing at me. My lips turned into a frown.

"Better?" I asked.

"No." she stated, flatly. I frowned further. She was really starting to get annoying.

"I'm Aido Hanabusa, by the way." I said following along beside her.

"I know who you are. My best friend is a disciplinary committee." She said.

"Really? You're going to make Yuki mad." I said. I didn't know Zero had friends…I figured he was just as scary to the humans as he was to us vampires.

"What?" She asked "Yuki is my best friend. I don't talk to Zero." She said, sounding angry. Her hostility was beginning to make me angry.

"How am I supposed to know?" I snapped. I was usually a very carefree playful person but I didn't understand why she was acting the way she was.

"Why are you still following me?" She asked suddenly stopping to turn and look at me. I didn't know how to answer her question. Kaname would punish me again and make me stand in the hallway with those evil buckets. (I shuddered at the memory.)

"You never answered my question" I said, smiling again.

"If I answer your question will you leave me alone?" She asked.

"That depends on if I like your answer" I said laughing. She didn't find it amusing.

"Why don't you go bother your fan club members?" She said, glancing over at a giggling group of girls who were pointing in our direction.

"Why should I? Where is the fun in talking to people who don't want to talk to you? Besides, I like the abuse." I said. This time she almost laughed, but managed to stop herself.

"My name is Sayori." She said "And I have class to attend to, so I will see you later." She said, shutting the school door in my face.

I smiled. She said she would see me later, which was a start. I headed over to my giggling fan girls "Morning, ladies" I said, but before I even got a chance to flirt with them, much less ask their blood type Yuki was upon me.

"Go back to the night dorm Id…um Aido" She said, holding the deadly Artimis rod up to my throat. I smiled at her, but before I could comment about how lovely she smelled this particular morning her partner had pressed his 'bloody rose' gun up to my temple.

I rose up my arms in defeat "I was just leaving, I promise." I said, walking away from the scene.

"Good choice" Zero growled. He must have been a night person, because he was always cranky in the morning. Wait…what was I saying? Zero was _always_ cranky.

I turned away from the group and heard the wines from the fan girls as I retreated back to the night dorm. Kaine was waiting for me in the main entrance when I arrived. "Morning cousin" I greeted him with a smile.

Kaine and I were complete opposites, even though we were cousins. He was dark and acted as if he doesn't have any feelings. He only gets in trouble when I do, and doesn't ever really make any choices for himself. He isn't a mover and shaker in the vampire society, more like fringe sitter. Kaine was someone who would rather observe than be observed. He had never shown any interest in girls neither human nor vampires, because he claims that he doesn't want to cause problems for Kaname-sama.

I was different, and there wasn't a single vampire in the night class who didn't know who I was. I liked to make statements, to let people know who I am. I don't like to be ignored, and love to be the center of attention, even if it means I have to do something bad to get that attention. I love girls, of course I only love human girls for their blood and the vampire girls in the night class are annoying (especially Ruka and Siren who were jealous of me because Kaname-sama loves me better!)

"I didn't think you would leave the dorm when I told you to go do something more productive this morning. You didn't cause trouble did you?" Kaine asked, calmly as usual.

"How well do you know me, cousin? I am always causing trouble." I said, sidestepping past him and heading up the stairs to our room.

I knew it wasn't something I should have done, but that morning not long after Kaine had fallen asleep I woke up and headed out the door. The gate keeper (a creepy weird guy who always seemed to be wearing a cloak) 

greeted me. "Going out again, Mr. Akatsuki?" He drawled. I made a face at him (he creped me out.)

"Uh…Yeah, just for a little bit and it would be great if you didn't tell Kaname about this." I said, slipping him a dollar bill. He scowled at me and I could tell that he didn't get the bribe joke, or he didn't think it was as funny as I did. Either way, he was giving me a dirty look.

"I shall see what I can do" He said, glaring at me as I exited the gate and stepped into the sunshine.

I headed back to the tree where I found the girl, Sayori yesterday. Today though, there was a group of male students sitting under the tree throwing a ball back and forth. I sighed, now what was I going to do? I didn't know where else to look for her.

"Am I going to have to report you?" The familiar voice asked. I felt stupid for not feeling her before. I whirled around, a smile turning up my lips.

"That won't be necessary my dear" I teased. "I mean you no harm, I promise."

"But you _are_ stalking me." She said, looking skeptical.

"Stalking is such a hateful word" I said, laughing slightly. She looked about as amused as the gate keeper. I changed my tactic "So, your friends with Yuki? I am pretty close to Yuki myself." I said. Sure it was a lie, but who was this girl to know any different?

"Yeah, I have heard stories about you, troublemaker." She said. I could always be wrong, what else had Yuki told her about me?

"Well…" I scratched the back of my head "I do tend to get into a lot of trouble" I admitted. I still didn't know why I wanted to talk to this girl. What made her different than any other girl I have come in contact with? 

Oh yeah, I remember, she _hates_ me. I don't even think Yuki hates me…strongly dislike, maybe, but not hate.

"Well if you are going to stalk me, you might as well make yourself useful." She said, handing me her books. My smile widened as I took her things. I defiantly liked the abuse.

After that I woke up and met her outside on the trail every morning, managing somehow to keep my little adventures away from Kaine and Kaname, which as I am sure you know keeping anything from Kaname is especially difficult (I mean seriously, did he have know EVERYTHING?)

Sayori had somewhat warmed up to me, but we had defiantly developed the ultimate love-hate relationship. I was near skipping this morning, although aristocrats don't skip I kind of felt like it. She was waiting for me under a shady tree, watching something off in the distance.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, trying to follow her field of vision.

"I'm just watching Yuki and Zero. They have become really close lately, it's kind of strange." She said.

"You're telling me" I said, watching them stand so close to eachother. It was sickening, really. Yuki belonged to Kaname-sama, and I know that Zero knows this, so why did he try so hard to make Kaname angry?

"I think it is kind of cute. They have been denying their feelings for each other for years now." She said. She seemed a little more annoyed than usual.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her. I had to say that we had only been talking for a few weeks now but I had already changed. Somehow I had mellowed out. It was as if being with her made me happy, so I was calm. Even the vampires were starting to pick up on my new attitude. Personally, I think I was starting to act more like her. She rarely got worked up over anything, 

and if she did it always had something to do with worrying about her best friend Yuki.

I also knew that I had to guard my secret from the disciplinary committee. If either of them found out that I was spending excess time with a human, much less one of Yukis friends I am sure that I would be forced to face Yuki and Zeros wrath.

"No, that stupid holiday is coming up. Everyone is getting all worked up about it. It's ridiculous." She said, shaking her head from side to side.

I knew exactly what she was talking about. Saint chocolates day was coming up, and even though she seemed less than enthusiastic, I couldn't help but love Saint Chocolates day. It was basically a day where the humans could worship us vampires by giving us chocolates as presents.

I shouldn't have asked, but I was curious "So who do you give chocolate to?" I asked, trying to look nonchalant.

She turned to look at me, annoyance on her face. "It's a superficial holiday" She snapped, stomping off towards the dorms (this was the time of day when day class was over but night class hadn't quite started.)

It only took me a few strides to catch up to her, considering my legs were much longer than hers (and vampires were much faster than humans.) "What did I say?" I asked, feeling regretful for what must have been the first time in my life.

There must have been something wrong with me, either that or Sayori had a bigger effect on me than I first thought. I have never in my whole life (inside and outside the academy) regretted one of the decisions I had made, even if my decision got me into trouble. She didn't stop, just continued walking up the stairs heading towards her dorm. Despite the trouble I was going to get in later, I followed after her.

She unlocked her door and slammed it in my face. Not the first time she had done that to me, but it hurt the most. She didn't bother locking the door before plopping down on her bed and covering her head with a pillow. "Go away" She said, her voice muffled by her large pillow. I pretended not to hear her and sat down on what must have been Yuki's bed.

"What did I say?" I repeated. I wanted to know what I needed to apologize for (another thing I had never had to do was apologize.)

I heard her sigh. "I shouldn't have gotten worked up like that. It isn't your fault." She said, turning her head to face me.

"Whose fault is it?" I asked, quietly. I was fairly sure that whoever had made her hate Saint Chocolate's day I could probably get revenge for her.

She sat up "You tell me something first, and then I will tell you anything you could ever want to know about me." She said.

I didn't like the sound of her offer, and immediately wondered what the catch was "Fine, what do you want to know?" I asked feeling a little worried.

"What are you, Aido?" She asked. I froze. This was not the kind of question I wanted her to ask.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Don't play dumb with me. I know you are not human. You couldn't possibly be." She said.

If I had a heart, it would have stopped beating. After all these years of guarding and protecting my secret a tiny, insignificant little human was going to make me question whether living a life shrouded in secrets was really a life worth living. Could I answer her question without her getting up 

and run screaming out of the room? Was risking my whole species secret worth keeping one human friend?

Before I figure my answer, I would just like to make this dedication out to my soul, whom I have left alone to rot in my body for all these years. Despite the fact that I didn't have a heart, in the true sense of the word, I still felt things for Sayori that I had never felt before. So yes, risking the secret was entirely worth it.

"The truth?" I asked just to make sure. Although I don't know what else she could be thinking, it was worth a shot.

"The absolute truth" She said, nodding her head.

I took a deep breath and risked everything "I am a vampire."

It took her a while to respond, for the first five minutes she just sat there staring at her hands. Finally, after ten excruciating minutes she said something "Ok." She said. I sighed in relief. At least she hadn't started screaming yet, that was always good. After a few more minutes she looked up and me and simply stated "So what do you want to know?"

I stared at her, a little taken aback. Didn't she have any questions or concerns? I was still a little worried. Did she not believe me or something? "Don't you want to scream or…something?" I asked.

"Not really" She said, shrugging "I knew it would be something like that. I have had my suspicions about the night class for a long time." She seemed unworried.

Nothing about her was conventional, so I should have known she would react like this. "I wanted to know why you hate Saint Chocolate's day." I said, getting back on topic.

"Right, though I warn you that it is a stupid story." She said, glancing away from me. She looked embarrassed, which was a new emotion for her.

"I still want to hear it" I assured her.

She took a moment to gather her thoughts, and then began "A long time ago, I had a friend whom I loved more than anyone." She began "He was so sweet, and kind and he treated me differently than any of the other guys who wanted to be my friend. I was in love with him.

"We spent all of our time together and I thought that he loved me too. On the day of Saint Chocolate's day I learned the truth about him." She paused, and I swear that I could see tears just behind her eyelids. "It was the day before Saint Chocolate's day that Yuki told me the truth. My love had given her a more-than-friendship chocolate and asked her out that morning. I of course didn't believe her, because I was pathetically in love with him, so much so that I didn't even trust my best friend.

"The next day I went to meet him outside to give him the special chocolate that I had made for him and I saw him try to kiss her, Yuki that is. I saw her push him away and tell him that I was in love with him. Even Zero stuck up for me, which was rare, but it didn't help the way I felt. It didn't heal the pain in my heart for being betrayed by the one guy I had ever loved. So even to this day, I don't celebrate Saint Chocolate's day, because my heart is still broken." She said. She never looked at me when she was telling me this story, and I could tell how much it hurt her to share this story with someone.

"I am sorry to hear that." I said. I had never really had to be serious before, so I didn't really know how to act.

"It's ok but now you know why I don't participate in Saint Chocolate's day." She said. I couldn't believe that the human she had spoken of used her in that way. It just proves that humans can be as cruel as vampires, they just 

don't know it. "I am sure that you love it, the whole night class gets all kinds of attention, don't they?" She asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yes, the attention is always nice." I said "But you're right, it is pretty superficial. The girls only like us because we are gorgeous."

"Oh, I am glad to see that you are so earnest." She said, rolling her eyes at me.

"I don't mean it like that. I just mean that if we looked human, then they probably wouldn't like us." I said, and it kind of hurt to think that it was true. My nickname Idol proved that to the humans we were just celebrities and nothing more, prizes if you will.

"You may be right" She said. I could still see the tears gleaming in her eyes. That jerk had really hurt her, and it made me angry. I wondered what I could do to make her happy again. "You should probably get going, night class will start soon and Yuki will be back in an hour or so." She said, standing up and opening the door.

"Alright, goodnight." I said, walking out the door. I stood in the hallway for a while, curious. Saint Chocolate's day was tomorrow and I wanted a way to heal her broken heart.

It wasn't easy but I managed to make some chocolate (after a lot of trial and error and failed experiments.) I also finally had to tell Kaine about what I have been up to for the last few days, and he kindly agreed to be my taste tester.

I snuck out of the night dorm at dawn, when all the students were in the showers getting ready for breakfast and snuck into Sayori's room (after making sure that neither Yuki nor Sayori where in there, of course. I set down my one batch of correctly made chocolates on her pillow and quickly headed back to the night dorm.

Yes I am aware that on Saint Chocolates day the girls are suppose to give the guys chocolate but I figured it might make her feel a little better. Kaine was waiting for me in our room "So I see you are still alive, I guess Yuki wasn't there?" He said. I nodded. "So you're still not accepting any chocolates this year?" He asked "Who are you?" His voice remained calm, but I could tell he was concerned. "You're not accepting chocolates, you don't just want her because of her blood, your attitude has completely changed, and now you're making chocolates to try and make a human feel better. You should have gotten a girlfriend a long time ago, if she was going to change you this much." He was only joking, but I knew he was right.

"I can't help it, Kaine. I know this is sappy and pathetic and out of character for me but I honestly think I love her." I said. It was the truth; I felt more for her than just a need for her blood. I wanted to talk to her and to know her and I knew that if the other vampires were to learn about this feeling, I would be severely punished. Kaine was the only one I could trust, and it had always been this way, he was the only brother I had.

That afternoon I slipped away from the Saint Chocolates day celebration to find Sayori. As I figured, she was sitting under her favorite tree reading a book. "Good evening, miss." I said, startling her a bit.

She snapped her book shut and blushed "I thought you would be with the others in the middle of the chaos, your fans are going to be disappointed." She said, smiling. I knew that I had made the right decision by coming to see her.

"They can get over it; Kaine said he would manage my line in my absence." I said. I hoped Kaname didn't notice that I was gone.

"Oh, well that was nice of him." She said.

"Yeah, he is always doing stuff like that for me." I said "So I take it you liked your present?" I asked. She smiled at me.

Her smiles were so rare I knew that if my heart actually beat, it would have stopped. "Actually, it was a little salty" She said. My mouth turned down in a frown, but before I could protest she closed the distance between us and kissed me.

It was strange how the world seemed to stop. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. For a moment, the screaming girls in the distance faded away and it was only me and Sayori standing under her favorite tree, kissing each other so fiercely it almost hurt. Before I knew what was happening I was biting her, just soft nips here and there, nothing too serious.

Between bites I asked her "So did I heal your broken heart?"

Despite the fact that she was panting she managed to choke out an answer "You healed my broken something, that's for sure" she said, then tightened her grip in my hair and pulled me closer to her.

A/n – Well this is easily the longest chapter I have written so far (fourteen pages long!) Aido and Sayori's story was just so cute I got a little carried away! Stay tuned for the next installment Chapter Seven: A fine line AND PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! (I MEAN COMMON PEOPLE; IT ONLY TAKES LIKE TWO SECONDS!!) See you next time!


	7. Chapter seven: Kain Akatsuki

I don't own vampire knight. End of story.

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

Excessive violence and blood spill. You have been warned.

"I slammed my hand into the mirror repetitively until the skin ripped off my knuckle, exposing the bone beneath. What was I going to have to do to free myself from this curse?"

Unknown

Chapter seven: A fine line

I can imagine that after waking up from a pain induced coma, the first thing you want to see is probably _not_ your worst enemy. Yet here he stands, peering down at me with a condescending expression.

"Don't patronize me." I said, glancing away from him. He laughed at me.

"You are something else, Zero Kiryu. To openly attack a pureblood and expect to win the battle. How foolish." Kaname sat in a chair beside my bed, crossing his legs.

"Why are you here, Kuran? Don't you need to keep up your ruse so everyone will think you are dead?" I asked, staring at the hospital ceiling.

"Perhaps, but I need to speak with you about something important." He said, his expression immediately changing serious. I frowned.

"Yeah, sure." I said, still unable to look him in the eye.

"The war is brewing between pureblood houses, and the fate of humanity naturally hangs in the battle. If you are forced to choose, which side will you fight for?" He asked, as bluntly as if he was asking me about the weather.

"What are you talking about, Kuran?" I snapped.

"It isn't hard to follow, Zero. Bato Hatake is trying to over run my families control. He wants the humans dead, as I am sure you know."

Thinking about Bato caused another thought to surface in my mind. "Wait, what happened to Yuki?" I didn't care about Kain or Shiki or Ruka for that matter, but I was worried about Yuki.

"She is fine, I assure you of that. I am keeping her in the night dorm under the direct watch of Ichijo." (A/n – I finally figured out what the night dorm VPs name is!) Kaname assured "She is in no danger."

I didn't believe his assurance "What happened to Bato? Did he just retreat?" I asked.

"I believe that he was a little freighted about what you did to Kaysha and Seki. Bravo by the way that was some one-man attack you mounted. It was almost as valiant as a night trying to rescue his princess." He was scowling now.

"She isn't my princess…I know my place." I said, looking away from him. I felt stupid letting him dominate me like that but something about Kaname Kuran unnerved me. For now I was going to pretend to be his allies, until the time comes when I have the power to be his enemy.

It's a fine line I suppose, the line between friend and foe. Especially when it comes to the tentative relationship between me and Kuran. He said it himself; I was only alive because I was of some use to him. "That is good to know, but it isn't what I am here to discuss with you." He said.

"Then what do you want, I need to get out of this stupid hospital." I growled at him.

"Impatient as always I see. Fine, Bato is planning on raising an army to take me down, then he wants to eradicate the hunters and finally he wants to turn the humans into blood slaves." He said his face completely blank.

"Blood slaves?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, they will have no free will and live only to feed the vampires. Since you were once human, I need to know which side you will choose." He said. Did he really have to ask whether I would fight for the humans or the vampires?

"I will fight with the hunters, if it becomes absolutely necessary." I said. I didn't plan to get my hands dirty unless there was an immediate need.

"He will attempt to recruit you, Zero. He remembers you from the party and he can make you an offer you can't afford to lose." Kaname said. I knew what Bato could offer me. The blood of a pure vampire, the only kind of blood that could prevent me from falling to a level 'E'.

"I wouldn't take his offer. I already know my fate." I said, I was surprisingly calm despite the conversation.

"I also want you to know that he is targeting Yuki now, because he knows that he can use her against me." Kaname said, looking suddenly grave.

I sighed. What else was new? Yuki was like some kind of vampire magnet. Something about her blood seemed to draw the vampires in. "that is just perfect." I said, still calm.

"Your eyes are turning red." Kaname stated. I turned away from him so he couldn't see.

"It doesn't matter." I mumbled. It had been a long time since I had last satisfied my need.

"We shall see how true your word is, Zero." He said. I turned back to him.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me? Because I would rather you leave now before someone finds you." I just wanted him to leave so I could think.

"I will do as you wish for now, but never forget that I am coming back for Yuki. Oh and also, the time for picking sides is drawing nearer and as much as it pains me to say this, you will be a deciding factor in the battle. I see that already you have made some powerful vampire allies." He said, standing up and walking over to the large window.

I knew the 'allies' he was referring to were Shiki, Ruka and Kain, but honestly, what did I need allies for? I wasn't going to participate in any great war. I was going to kill Bato and continue on with my pathetic life as it is.

Kaname turned to me and issued one last warning. "I would just like you to know that, when the time finally comes that I am forced to choose, I will inevitably betray you." Then, he disappeared.

I was released from the hospital a few hours later and made the short track back to the academy. I was still worried about Yuki so instead of going to the headmaster like I probably should have, I headed straight towards the night dorm. The gate master wouldn't open the gate, so I simply jumped over it and landed on the other side. My leg ached slightly, but I ignored it and continued on.

The door to the night dorm was open already and I strode right in, ready to shoot any vampire who had a problem with me being there. Kain met me in the main foyer, near the stairwell. "You're fairly brave, coming in the midst of angry vampires after murdering one of our purebloods." He said his voice as empty as always.

"Like I care, now tell me where Yuki is." I stated. As I said before, should any vampire have a problem with me, I was in the perfect mood to kill them.

"Follow me." Kain said, leading me up the stairs. I recognized the room she was in as Kaname Kuran's old room (the reason as to how I knew this is a completely different story.) Ruka and Aido were guarding the door, both of them looked fairly bored.

Before Kain opened the door I had to ask "Why are you three helping us? You hate us." I didn't know much about Kain, but I knew that Ruka hated Yuki because Kaname loved Yuki and not Ruka, and I know good and well that Aido hates me.

"What other choice do we have?" Aido snapped. "It was either help you two, or let that Kaysha control us." He growled.

Kain turned to me and offered a more reasonable explanation "We know Kaname is not dead, Zero. We also know that Bato Hatake is looking to kill everyone that is close and dear to Kaname, and we are not going to stand idly by and be slaughtered."

Ichijou snuck up behind me and put his arm around me "You will find, Kiryu that in a crisis situation there is a fine line between enemies and allies." He smiled at me.

I pulled away from him and bumped into Shiki "We are ready to risk our lives to protect what we need to protect, it is our job as vampire aristocrats. The pureblood control over us is dwindling and a time is nearing when we will be able to act of our own accord." Shiki said, glancing at the others.

I stared at all of them, Ruka, Kain, Shiki, Ichijou and Aido, and they stared back at me with fire in their eyes. I couldn't tell them that Kaname Kuran intended to betray them. Instead I just opened the door and left them standing in the hallway. Whether they were my friends or my enemies, it didn't matter. To me, at this very moment, the only thing that matters is Yuki.

She lay on Kurans bed, her eyes closed. Her external wounds were bandaged and her broken bones were wrapped up. Even in sleep she looked like she was in pain, and that bothered me. I wanted to wake her in order to ask her what happened when I was at the hunter's society, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Instead I just sat down and deliberated. What had Kaname meant when he said he would inevitably betray me? What war was he talking about? And what would be my place when this war started? I wanted to confidently say that I would fight alongside my hunter brothers but… after hearing the vampires today I wasn't so sure.

Not to mention, what side would Yuki take? I was almost one hundred percent sure that she would fight with the vampires, even if she was a human. She would choose whatever side Kaname Kuran chooses. It seemed that I remain the only variable, the only one who sits in between both sides, and advocate for neither, and enemy for neither.

I suddenly felt painstakingly alone. There was no one else who sits on the fringe as I do, no one else who understands where I am coming from. Yuki had already made it clear which side she would choose when it came down to it. And if I really looked at it, Yuki is the only one who cares about me.

It hurt to think about but I knew it was true. For so long Yuki was all I had, the only one who held my head up when I was drowning in self pity and yet…she never loved me. I don't even really need her to love me, but it would be nice if she would just stand beside me if I needed her too. Though I knew she wouldn't, because she loves Kaname, and I am nothing to her compared to him.

I stood up, and walked to the window. If she no longer needed me, then I had no reason to stay. Kain and Aido could take care of her until Kaname came back for her, and I could live my life in solitude until I fall to a level 'E' and end up dying an ironic fate by being killed by my traitor brother…or something else I would have never seen coming. Either way, the fact that I no longer had any reason to stay with Yuki was clear and so…I opened the window and readied myself to leave her forever.

"Zero?" Yuki asked, her voiced strained from pain. "Are you hurt?" She asked me. I rolled my eyes. Every time I thought it would be better to leave, she reels me back in. It was cruel, but what was I going to do? I am in love with her, after all. So I did the only thing I could think of, I turned around and sat down on the bed beside her.

"No Yuki, I am fine. Don't worry about me." I said, smiling the best fake smile I could at her.

"Oh well that is good." She said, smiling at me. Her brown eyes sparkled and my heart ached. Why did she have to keep making me feel so helpless?

"I see you're looking better." I said.

She giggled "Yeah, I feel just great." She rolled her eyes at me and attempted to move her broken arm.

"That's good to know." I chuckled slightly. "Listen Yuki, I am really sorry about not getting there sooner. I feel awful." I said, looking at all her injuries.

"Don't worry; I don't think you could have helped me. It all happened so fast." She shook her head from side to side "I feel stupid for trusting him." She said making an annoyed face. "You did an amazing job at protecting me though, don't feel bad." She smiled again.

I sighed. What was I supposed to do? "Thank you." I said. "Needless to say though, you are not going to be doing any disciplinary committee duties for a while." I joked.

"Is Kain alright? He got pretty badly hurt…" she said.

"Yeah don't worry he is fine. Ruka took good care of him." I reassured her. The atmosphere felt slightly awkward as we sat together in the darkness. The only light was moonlight shinning through the window and illuminating everything in a soft white glow. "What were you thinking, Yuki? Going after Bato like you did. He could have torn you in half." I said, feeling suddenly annoyed. If Bato would have hurt her, I would have lost every shard of humanity I had left.

"I don't know Zero. I was so angry by that point I wasn't thinking. He killed Kaname, then he tried to kill you, I didn't want him to take anything else away from me." She said, looking sad. I knew the memory of Kaname's 'death' still hurt her. He was her everything and I knew what it was like to lose everything.

"I could have defended myself." I said.

"Yeah, that's why you have been in the hospital for the last few days?" She said laughing. She moved then, trying in vain to sit up straight. I had to get up and help her and the pained face she kept making was even hurting me. "That's better" she said once she was in a sitting position "now you don't have to look down at me." She said.

I didn't know what else to say then and silence enclosed around us both. It was comfortably, but a twinge of awkwardness still lingered. Yuki seemed comfortable enough, but I had to think of something to say. The quiet was almost suffocating to me. "So what do you plan to do after graduation?" I asked, unable to help myself.

"I don't know. I don't really want to have to leave the academy" She smiled at me "I know it sounds stupid but…I am really going to miss everyone here and being with the headmaster is all I have ever really known, so leaving now is going to be very hard on me." She watched my reaction "What are you planning on doing, Zero? Going back to the hunter society?"

It seemed a reasonable thing to do, considering I was still a hunter even if I am now a vampire. Though my career seems very hypocritical now. I am a vampire who works for humans to kill my own kind. If I had any sympathy for the vampires, this might even seem sick, but I don't have any sympathy for them, so it almost seems a natural thing for me to do.

"I have no idea" I answered her honestly. I had never had any real reason to think about it, though graduation did draw nearer.

"You should, graduation is in less than two months." She said, looking at her hands. It was almost as if she had something else to tell me, but couldn't find the words. She shifted again, despite the pain it caused her to do so.

She sat up on her knees so that she could look at me on an even level. "What's wrong, Yuki?" I asked. I had known her long enough to know when she wanted to tell me something.

"Zero…I don't know how to say this, and I don't know how you are going to take it but.." She paused to gather her thoughts. I didn't like where this seemed to be going.

"Yuki, you can tell me anything." I said. Though it was sappy and out of character it was true. The least I could do for her was listen.

"Zero, after graduation I want you to promise me something" She said, I didn't know if she was pausing for dramatic effect, or if this promise was so difficult to word. "I want you to stay with me, Zero." She said after a long moment.

I blinked a few times, trying to process what she had just asked me. "You want me to…stay with you?" I repeated, not quite understanding.

"Yes, please Zero." She said, and then added "I don't want to lose you, and I know that If you ever go away, you won't ever come back." She looked almost as if she was going to cry.

I couldn't deny that what she said wasn't true. I had said it to myself many times that once I was strong enough to sever my ties to Yuki I would leave her for good. The strange part was why she was thinking about these kinds of things anyway and why did she want me to stay in the first place.

I clenched my fist. As if the answer wasn't obvious! I was her replacement for Kaname Kuran..and I always had been. Whenever Kaname upset her she had come to me for support. Now that he was 'dead' she had no one else to turn to but me. My teeth ground together, and I felt my fangs grow.

I was getting angry and I knew my anger made me thirsty, but I ignored the burning in my throat. Who did she think I was? Why did she keep using me like this! What right did she have to control my feelings? What right did she have to hurt me so badly? My eyes focused on the bandage on her neck, covering Seki's bite mark and my anger boiled to the surface.

She yelped when my eyes turned red, but before she could do much else I pinned her down, ignoring her whimpers as I pressed down on her broken bones. I leaned down and ripped the bandage off with my teeth, spitting it across the room. I bit into her before I could even process what I was doing and tore at the place where he had bitten her with his fangs.

Seki's smell lingered on her neck, which only proved to anger me further. I felt her kick me but I am sure it hurt her more than it hurt me. I drank her sweet blood and lost myself along the way. I knew that this was inevitable, my assention to a level E vampire but I didn't know it would be like this.

I was still vaguely aware of her voice begging me to stop, but I couldn't comprehend what she was saying and continued to drink until the blood drained from her face. By this point Yuki must have realized that she wasn't getting through to me anymore, so she pulled my shirt up and dug her fingernails into my bare flesh. Though she was only human she was able to draw blood and she continued to drag her fingernails all the way down to my pants line.

A tiny shard of consciousness screamed at me to let her go and a familiar feeling flooded my stomach. We were close, my head buried in her neck, my fangs buried in her flesh, her fingernails buried in my stomach when I finally realized that this was wrong. My strong feelings for her won out over my vampire instincts after a long moment of struggling. I finally released her neck, and allowed her blood to flood out of my mouth.

I coughed it up, unable to stand it. What had I just done? I could have killed her and yet I couldn't stop myself. I was a danger to myself, to the people around me, but most of all I was a danger to Yuki. She stared up at me with fear evident in her eyes. I ripped my claws through the bed on either side of her and my anger resurfaced. I fought against it, not willing to let it over take me anymore.

The worst part was that she never screamed. She was going to let me kill her, and that made me sicker than the blood streaming from my mouth. What was wrong with her? I looked away from her, unable to move yet unable to acknowledge what I had just done. Something surfaced inside of me, and I suddenly receded into myself.

_A man stood before me, reflected in a large mirror. Though it wasn't just any man, It was myself, though I was a complete vampire. My fangs protruded, my eyes were blood colored and blood dripped off my fangs. Behind this monster Yuki lay crumpled on the ground in a puddle of blood. I stared in shock at the sight before me, unable to comprehend what was happening. _

_Where had this gone so horribly wrong? I envisioned Shizuka Hio while the vampire before me openly laughed at me. I was helpless and pathetic and I always had been. This realization hurt. I snarled at my reflection. I was the son of the Kiryu family, the most revered and respected hunter family in the land and I was letting my actions be controlled by a vampire? Even if that vampire was myself, I couldn't let it get the better of me. I slammed my fist into the mirror repetitively, until the skin had been scrapped from my knuckle and nothing but bone remained. Finally, I slammed my face into the mirror and crushed the shattered glass under my feet. I was finally aware of Yuki talking to me. _

"Zero…are you…ok?" She asked, breathless. I buried my face in between her collar bones and attempted to bury my shame. Why did this keep happening to me? If I was going to become a level E, why couldn't I just stay a level E and be done with it! Why did I have to regain consciousness right after doing something terrible?

Wherever my parents were, be it heaven or hell, or something else entirely, I knew they were weeping with me. I was a failure as a hunter, I was a failure as a man and even worse I was a failure as a friend. Yuki ran her fingers through my hair in a comforting manner. I had never cried in my whole life and yet now I found myself unable to do anything but. It was pathetic and I hated it, but I couldn't stop.

"You were going to let me kill you" I said, pressing my face further into her skin. Being so close to her blood smell no longer bothered me, though I didn't notice it at the time. I was too wrapped up in my own disturbing thoughts.

"You wouldn't have killed me, Zero." She said continuing to stroke my hair.

"How do you know that?" I snarled, angrier at myself than I was at her for letting me hurt her.

"I know you, Zero." She said, I moved my hand up to cover the bite mark on her neck.

"Obviously you don't" I said, feeling the blood flow freely in-between my fingers. She pressed her hand against my own and the pressure was enough to stop the bleeding.

Neither of us said anymore, we just laid in silence. Her chest rose and fell, straining slightly against my weight. I was sure that I was crushing her broken arm, but she didn't complain. I kept my hand against the bite mark and my head in her chest as she continued to stroke me with her good hand.

I had to gain control of myself. I would not let the vampire inside of me get the better of me. I couldn't. Even if Shizuka was dead, and my chances at saving myself from becoming a level E' have died with her, I refused to let that control me. I refused to let myself fall.

"Zero" Yuki said, softly. Her breath was still ragged from the strain of trying to hold me off.

"What?" I mumbled.

"You're bleeding" She stated.

I picked my head up to look at her. She herself was splattered in her own blood (which I had attempted to expel from my body after drinking from her) but the blood on her fingers was mine. "So are you." I countered.

I pulled my shirt off in order to better survey the damage. I had five claw marks running from just above my belly button all the way down to my pants line, but it wasn't these injuries that caught my attention. I noticed my hand, which rested against her neck was bleeding also.

I stared at the injury. The white bone stood out in an unnatural manner, as if I had bitten my own hand and ripped the skin off. I blinked. Wasn't that the injury I had sustained in my strange fantasy, from shattering the glass mirror? What the hell was going on?

I ignored my own confusion. I didn't really care what had happened. "Are you alright Yuki?" I asked.

She sat up and stared at me. Blood soaked through her shirt and she still looked a little shaken up. I sat against her legs, pinning her to the bed and she leaned her head against my chest and sighed. "You're hurting me…" She mumbled.

I moved onto my knees so that I was no longer sitting on her, I was about to get up when she dug her fingers back into my stomach. I didn't complain, whatever it was she was doing, she had every right to do it. "I'm sorry, Yuki." I said. I could never apologize for what I had just done, but this was a start.

"You don't understand, Zero." She said. "You're not hurting me physically, you are hurting me emotionally." She said, digging her nails further into me, as if she thought if she let go I would disappear.

"What are you talking about?" I asked quietly. I could feel her fingers trembling inside me.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you." She said.

"Try me." I said, watching the emotions play across her face. Her voice was shaking.

Instead of answering, she changed the subject. "I'm cold." She said shivering slightly for emphasis.

I stared at her blood-soaked uniform "I can imagine." I said. The wet blood must have been catching the air, causing it to cling to her and make her cold. I would have moved to get her a blanket had she not still been desperately clinging to me.

I leaned down and pressed my lips against the bite mark, smearing the blood that had settled there. I could feel her moving, but I wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. "Zero…" She said. I sat back up and realized that she had pulled her school jacket off and unbuttoned most of her white blouse.

She was struggling on the second to last button. "What are you doing?" I asked, helping her unbutton it. She pulled her shirt off and tossed it down on the floor.

"I said I was cold, didn't I?" She said. Her bra was also tinged in red. She reached under me and pulled the blanket up to her neck.

I lay down beside her and wrapped my arms around her. "I really am sorry, Yuki." I repeated.

"Please stop apologizing." I heard her mumble. She turned around and curled her body against mine. She was still shaking, and she pressed her fingers back into the wound in my stomach.

"I won't ever leave you, Yuki. I promise I will still be here, even if you no longer need me." I promised, burring my head in her hair.

"That's good to know, Zero." She said "but I will always need you." I held her tighter.

"Yuki, I have to tell you something." I knew that once I told her this, she would hate me. I knew that once these words left my mouth that the friendship I had developed so carefully between us would be shattered.

"What is it Zero?" She asked, turning to look at my face.

I finished, sealing my fate away with a single sentence. "Kaname Kuran isn't really dead."

A/n- Oh yeah, I am cruel enough to stop right there. Anyway this chapter was slow and pretty boring in my opinion, but it was necessary so I hope you liked it! How is Yuki going to react to this new revelation that Kaname is still alive? Stay tuned for the next installment Chapter eight: Enemies and allies when the night class finally divides and states their allegiances. READ AND REVEIEW! COMMON PEOPLE IT ONLY TAKES LIKE TWO SECONDS. And to make it more interesting, I AM NOT writing more until I have at least 20 reviews. Have fun people.


	8. Chapter eight: Ichiru Kiryu

I don't own Vampire Knight. End of story.

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

"They all stood before me as if I had all the answers. I didn't want to tell them that they were sadly mistaken, and that I in fact didn't even have answers for my own problems, much less theirs."

Zero Kiryu

Chapter eight: Betrayal

_Something was pulling him, like a desire he couldn't place. It was telling him to run from her before she processed what he had said and proved that their comfortable friendship was not meant to last. Though he found himself unable to move, unable to breath or to think, he could only watch her every miniscule reaction for some sign of what she was about to do, and for a long time he saw nothing._

It took Yuki a while to process what I had said and even then I don't think she believed me. She sat up again in order to stare at me. "What are you talking about, Zero?" She asked, still calm. She didn't believe me. I almost backed out, but I knew she would hate me more if I pretended to lie to her.

"Kaname Kuran isn't really dead." I repeated. This was the end, and I knew it.

"I…I saw him, Zero. I saw him die." She said, her voice wavering due to the shock.

"No that is what he wanted. He wants Bato to think that he is dead so that he can raise a force against him and eventually kill him." I said. It did hurt me to say this, but I couldn't lie to her forever.

She threw the blanket off of her and stood up; despite the pain she endured for doing so. "Please Zero; tell me this is a sick joke." She said, quietly. I could see the tears surfacing in her eyes.

"I wish I could, Yuki." I said, shaking my head.

She didn't freak out, or cry or do anything that I thought she would. Instead she very calmly asked "Where is he?"

I stood up to face her "I can't tell you Yuki, I promised him." I said. My promise to him meant nothing, but I couldn't let her go to him. I didn't want to let her go anywhere just yet. As long as I was spilling secrets I was ready to spill my biggest secret of all.

"What do you mean Zero! Tell me where Kaname is!" She shouted.

I held my hands up in an attempt at self defense "Just hear me out for a second Yuki, please!" I said. She stopped; apparently her curious was greater than her anger, which was what I was hoping for.

"What" She asked, while grinding her teeth together.

I inhaled a deep, sweet breath and sighed. "Yuki…for years now we have been friends, and I would do anything for you and you know that" I started. She didn't look impressed. "Lately though, I have been noticing something that I had up till just recently chosen to ignore." I paused again. I had never been good at expressing my feelings, and this feeling was particularly difficult to express.

"I'm guessing there is more…" She said, tears freely streaming down her cheeks. At least she was listening to me, which was a good sign.

"So before you hurt me, or hate me or whatever it is you are planning to do to me for betraying me just give me ten seconds." I said, still unable to figure out what exactly it is I wanted to say to her.

"Ten seconds" She agreed, glaring at me. I had never really seen her glare and in any other situation I would have laughed at her for trying to be serious.

"Yuki this is hard to say but I think I…." I paused again. Damnit! Why was this so hard? It was just three stupid words!

She crossed the room standing right in front of me, bit her lip and thrust her fingers back into my stomach wound digging deeper this time than before. "Why don't you just say it Zero! You have been hurting me for too long." She said, the tears streaming freely now.

"I love you, Yuki." I said, feeling her fingers tremble inside of me. She gripped tighter, and I could now see the blood running down her knuckles.

"Thank you, Zero." She said letting me go.

I stared at her in disbelief. "What did you just say?" I asked. Had she gone completely mad?

"I know you love me, Zero. I have known for a long time." She said, plopping down on the bed and running through what had happened in her mind. She came to the conclusion that it was Kaname who had betrayed her, and not Zero, so Zero in turn did not deserve her punishment.

"What do you mean you have known?" I asked, unable to comprehend. I thought Kaname was the only one who knew, and he would never tell Yuki anything that would benefit me in any way.

"I'm not stupid, Zero. I just never thought you would admit it to me." She said, looking suddenly very sad. I hoped I had done the right thing by admitting my love for her. I didn't know what else to say to her, so I remained very quiet and waited for her to comment.

Before Yuki was able to gather a reasonable statement there was a noise outside the door, which seemed to be Aido. "We can talk later" I said, happy for the distraction. I crossed the room and pulled the door open, preparing me for whatever it was that seemed to be making Aido so upset, but before I could open my mouth in order to snap at the rowdy vampire something cold and hard was pressed against my temple.

I froze on the spot but didn't bother stepping back; I knew he wouldn't shoot me. "Ichiru" I greeted, staring at my twin brother who stood merely arms length away from me.

Ichiru stared back at me, his eyes hard and his expression unreadable. It felt almost surreal staring into my own face on another person. Ichiru had been attending the day class before Kaname 'died' but once Kuran disappeared Ichiru decided to return to Maria, the small vampire whom Shizuka Hio (the woman who turned me into a vampire in the first place) had possessed in order to get close to me once again.

I glanced at Maria who stood behind Ichiru, gripping onto his long brown trench coat and watching me with weary eyes. "What are you doing? Put your gun down, you are in a hallway full of vampires!" Yuki yelped, setting a hand on my shoulder. I wasn't concerned by my brother's obvious hostility.

Ichiru made no move to lower his weapon "I am here on strict orders, Zero." Ichiru explained, cocking his gun.

"To kill me?" I guessed. The other vampires, who now included Rima and Siren stayed quiet. They knew that Ichiru's gun, the counterpart to my own 'Blood rose' could easily end there pathetic existences with one shot.

"No" He stated "I didn't know you were here until that vampire mentioned your name" He said. I was sure he was referring to Aido, who had a tendency to have a very big mouth.

"Then what are your orders?" I asked. I could hear Yuki fretting behind me; she was worried that the situation was going to get serious.

"To protect Maria and to seek and destroy the one called Kaysha Matsumi" He said, surveying the room behind me.

"I don't know who issued your orders, but Kaysha has already been taken care of" Kain reasoned, stepping forward and placing a hand lightly on Ichiru's shoulder. "Please lower your weapon" He added. It was more of an order than a request.

Ichiru drew another gun and pressed it against Kain's stomach. I rolled my eyes. My brother was still as predictable as ever. "Unhand me, vampire" Ichiru commanded.

Aido stepped forward, snarling. I decided to end this pandemonium before Ichiru accidently shot someone. I held no real ties to any of these vampires, but if what Kaname told me was correct, and there really _was_ some kind of war brewing, I would need more friends than enemies.

In one swift motion I caught hold of my brother's gun and twisted it out of his hand, then just as quickly kicked the other one into the air and caught it, all before my brother could react to even one of my movements. "You know it is stupid of you to threaten me, especially when Maria is so close." I warned, watching the frail girl press closer to my brother.

"You wouldn't dare" Ichiru snarled.

Yuki stepped in front of me and slapped Ichiru in the face, shocking both me and Ichiru. "He is your brother" She snapped "Even if you don't like it, you two are related and therefore you should at least respect him, not attempt to murder him." I could tell that she was more afraid than she was angry.

"He wouldn't have shot me" I assured her, pulling her back against me.

Kain stood his ground "He wouldn't have shot me either, and lived." Kain almost smiled at his own statement and all the surrounding vampires un-tensed.

"Like they said, Ichiru, Kaysha is dead, so your presence here is unnecessary" I said.

Ruka mumbled something about hunters who lack manners and Aido stepped forward and introduced himself to Maria, bowing before her. "It is nice to meet you for the first time, Maria Kurenia, and I am happy to see that you are yourself again." Aido said. The last time he had seen Maria she was being possessed by Shizuka Hio.

Maria bowed in return "Thank you very much, Aido Hanabusa." She said, proving that she did in fact know who we were, despite the fact that the last time we had the pleasure of meeting she wasn't quite herself.

"You killed Kaysha?" Ichiru asked, looking honestly curious.

"Accidently" I clarified. I didn't mean to mutilate her; it was the first act of vamporic violence that I have committed.

A dark look crossed Ichiru's face again, but I could see the look of praise lurking just below the surface. He wanted things to return to normal between us, so that we could go back to being brothers and not enemies. Though being my twin, Ichiru seemed to be just as stubborn as I. "Typical" He scoffed, stepping between Aido and Maria. "What about Bato, and Seki who was supposed to be Kaysha accomplice?" He asked.

Aido frowned at him for interrupting his conversation with Maria but answered his question regardless "Seki has been taken care of as well but Hatake managed to escape" He said, glancing at his cousin.

"Let me guess, Zero murdered him too?" Ichiru asked. I simply nodded. Yuki kept her mouth shut and some of the vampires wandered away, uninterested in our conversation. Ichiru frowned at me. "It won't be long then, in that case." He said.

He was referring to me falling to a level 'E' vampire, which did inevitably happen to all humans who were turned into a vampire. My only chance at saving myself was murdered last year by none other than Kaname Kuran himself (though no one but me knows this valuable piece of information.) "It isn't important" I said, glancing down at Yuki. From the saddened look on her face I could tell that she knew exactly what Ichiru was talking about.

Ichiru ignored my comment and turned back to Aido "Isn't it time for night class?" He asked. He must have had some kind of ulterior motive for coming here today, I just hadn't figured it out yet.

"Actually we were just about to discuss Bato Hatake, weren't we Zero?" Ichijo Takuma, who was the night dorm vice president, spoke up. I gave him a look that said I had no idea what he was talking about and he winked at me. "Would you like to join us Ichiru? Maria?" He said, smiling his friendly upbeat smile at them.

Maria returned Takuma's smile and turned to Ichiru, who was waiting for her response "It would be best" She said, smiling at me as well. I frowned. I didn't want to be forced to drag my brother into this senseless fighting as well as the bulk of the night class aristocrats.

Takuma extended a hand to Maria "Alright then, we should talk in the common room where we can all sit comfortably." He said, leading her down the stairs. Aido, Rima, Ruka, Siren, Shiki and Kain followed after him, but Ichiru remained.

"I have something to discuss with you" He said, glaring at me.

"Save it for later. I have already had one important discussion interrupted today." I said "Common Yuki" I said, pushing her in front of me gently. I didn't want to leave Yuki alone with Ichiru.

The vampires were already settled downstairs on the soft red and gold furniture. Kain leaned against the nearby wall, seeming to be lost in his own thoughts. Rima and Shiki sat on the small two seater couch nearest the staircase, both looking attentive and prepared, despite their usual aloofness. Ruka and Aido sat on another two seater couch. Ruka was watching Kain with an interested expression and Aido was observing Maria, who was sitting on a less than comfortable looking chair and chatting with Takuma who was standing beside her.

There seemed to be only one chair left, so Ichiru kneeled down on the other side of Maria and I allowed Yuki to occupy the chair while I stood close to her. "What have we to discuss?" Maria asked, already interested in the conversation.

"What are we going to do about Bato?" Takuma asked, and it seemed like every head in the room turned to me. They all stood before me as if I had all the answers. I didn't want to tell them that they were sadly mistaken, and that I in fact didn't even have answers for my own problems, much less theirs.

"What are you all staring at?" I snapped, my face feeling heated under their gaze.

"You know the most about him" Kain said "I looked him up in the pureblood records and it barely stated his heritage, much less his strengths and weaknesses." He said, sharing a look with his cousin.

"You talked to him, didn't you? At the party I mean. What did he say?" Rima asked, twirling her stringy blonde hair in-between her fingers.

"For maybe a second" I answered, dashing their hopes "And only to tell him that Kaname was on the balcony." Most of their faces fell and Siren edged into the room, standing against the staircase and watching carefully.

"So what kind of enemy is he? What are his motives and what is his main goal?" Shiki asked, turning to Takuma. Apparently they now thought I was as useless as I felt.

"From what I understand his plans are to take down anyone loyal to Kaname Kuran, and control the pureblood houses." Maria offered "He came to my house not long ago in order to form an alliance with my father, which is why Ichiru and I have come here." She said, looking saddened "He would have killed us otherwise. I may be a pureblood, but I am in no way capable of taking one down." She said "I am weak and helpless" She whispered.

That is just great, even without associating with me, Ichiru is already involved. "He also seems to be targeting Yuki and Zero. Kaysha could have easily captured any of us in the night class using her compulsion, but she chose to use Seki in order to capture Yuki." Kain said a slight growl in his voice.

"He saw them together, Yuki and Kaname I mean, so it is only natural that he thinks Yuki is closest to him" Ruka commented, though I was sure it was a painful thing for her to have to admit. Ruka at one point loved Kaname, though now it seemed she was more interested in Kain.

"That could be a problem" Takuma said, scratching the back of his head.

"Or it could be to our advantage" Shiki spoke, causing every head to turn to him. Even Rima, who seemed to be his closest companion stared at him in shocked silence.

"What are you saying, Shiki?" She asked, yelping slightly.

I snarled at him. Surely he wasn't thinking of using Yuki as bait to lure Bato Hatake out of the shadows…a thought dawned on me, one I should have realized before now. Bato was a pureblood, which means that he had a number of abilities, one of which was the ability to completely control the actions of lesser vampires.

Why would Bato, who knows good and well that we would begin to plot against him allow us to act as independent vampires? He has no control over Yuki or Ichiru, but who is to say that he isn't using one of these vampires in order to spy on us? Or worse, what if he was using all of them in order to lure Yuki and I into a well thought out plan? My paranoia got the best of me and I began imagining which vampire was the betrayer in our midsts.

How many of these vampires knew I was a vampire? That secret had been up to this point my ace in the whole, assurance that I had a power that the vampires were not aware of and could therefore put to good use in an emergency situation. When I killed Kaysha and Seki I relied on my vampire instincts, but was Ruka and Kain aware of this? Or did they just think that I was an incredibly powerful hunter?

"Of course I don't mean we sacrifice her" Shiki defended, causing me to jump from my unsettling thoughts. "I just think that we could compose a trap for Bato using Yuki's blood, or something similar and he would be none the wiser." He reasoned.

"_He'll know"_ Ichiru and I answered simultaneously. I glanced at him and closed my mouth, allowing him to continue. "He is a pureblood and obviously a sharp one at that. Who's to say that he isn't spying on us at this very moment?" He said, voicing the same concern that I had been worrying about. Apparently despite our differences my brother and I are still connected in some way.

"But if that is the case then it means that…" Maria trailed off. We all knew what it meant without it needing to be voiced. It seemed a cruel fate, being hunted by someone who was more powerful than us all combined. Maria glanced at my brother and pressed her forehead against his "Oh Ichiru, I am so sorry for getting you mixed up in all of this" She said, closing her eyes.

"Don't be concerned, Maria. I wouldn't have been able to leave you to be hunted, and besides, I was already involved." He assured her, pressing a hand to her cheek. I looked away unable to watch how close my brother and Maria Kurenia had become. It was slightly nauseating.

"Speaking of spying, what if he is using one of us as a spy?" Ruka spoke up, startling Maria. Yuki had stayed very still and very quite through the conversation, but she now seemed ready to voice her opinion as well.

"You may not even be aware of it" She said "I have seen Kaname use his compulsion on Aido before, it is an amazing ability" She said, and the vampires all glanced at each other suspiciously. The last thing we needed right now was to all fear each other.

"You are very right Miss Yuki, a purebloods will over the lesser vampires is extremely powerful and impossible to fight." He said, speaking from experience. "We have all been exposed to it when Kaname was dorm president, even if Kaname did not mean it himself. It is an almost subconscious power that the purebreds can't help but use." He said.

"How does it work?" Yuki asked. She had seen it done, but never actually been forced to obey as the others have.

"It starts in your stomach, and then works its way throughout your system until you are numb. It makes you feel very tingly and weary, and then no matter how you force yourself not to, your body obeys the command." Aido said.

"It makes you feel weak and helpless" Ruka added "It is in no way a pleasant experience." She said, sighing.

I seemed to be the only vampire in the room who had not been subject to this very cruel vampire ability. "So if one of us is a spy then how will we know which one it is, if the spy doesn't even know that he is a spy?" Rima asked, watching Takuma with her large eyes.

"I am not sure." The moon dorm VP shook his head, seeming to be at a loss.

Maria raised her hand eagerly "I think I have an idea!" She said, sounding excited. Ichiru watched her carefully, raising his eyebrow.

"What is it?" Takuma asked. Maria was a pureblood with not only knowledge of pureblood powers and weaknesses, but also hundreds of powerful connections to other purebloods and a number of vampire aristocrats. It would be beneficial to at least her what she had to say.

"Well why don't I ask you one by one?" She asked. "I could use my compulsion to force you to answer my questions, and I could ask if you had talked to Bato? You wouldn't be able to deny my request and there would be nothing Bato could do to stop me, unless he showed himself and risk being attacked by all of us" She said, beaming.

A smile spread across Takuma's face "You are truly brilliant my dear!" He said, clapping his hands. "Alright then, you shall question us all one at a time. I shall personally volunteer to go first" He said.

Ichiru didn't look happy "Maria, you know how difficult it is for you to use your powers, if you used them excessively on such a big group it could be dangerous for you." He said, placing his hand on top of hers.

She smiled at him "Don't worry about me, Ichiru. I want to be of some use to my friends." She said. Ichiru glanced at me, and I nodded my head at him. I was sure that Maria would have no problems, and at this point we needed all the help we could get.

"Alright then, it's settled! Let's get started, shall we?" Takuma asked. All the vampires stood up and readied themselves to be questioned.

Takuma carried Maria's chair away from the group in order to give them a bit of privacy. Ichiru joined her and stood at her side, in case the spy panicked and ended up getting hostile. Yuki was also able to join Maria, and I handed her the 'Bloody Rose' gun, since I would also be a suspect.

I stood closer to Maria than the rest of the vampires, who kept a fair distance. Takuma knelt before her, and the questioning began. She asked him simple things, like has he spoken to Bato recently, and was he working for anyone other than Kaname Kuran. His answers were clear and sure, no doubt or hesitation in the slightest. She smiled at him once she was finished "Nothing" She concluded.

Takuma strolled triumphantly back to the group of vampires and Aido stepped forward, kneeling down in the same fashion. She asked him a different series of questions and then smiled "Still nothing" She assured as Aido rejoined the group.

Kain was the next one to step forward and he answered in the same clear self assured fashion that Aido had. Thus ended the vampires that I trusted, and the ones who remained were the main suspects. I didn't know Siren or Rima, or even Shiki enough to know whether they were capable of betrayal or not, and Ruka herself had a reason to want to get back at Yuki and Kaname. I shifted positions, then stepped forward before Shiki was able to "I would like to be next, if you don't mind" I said. I had noticed the left over vampires giving me the same distrustful look that I had been giving them.

"Alright, Zero Kiryu" Maria said as I kneeled down in front of her and stared her in the eyes. Everyone watched, and Yuki gave me a worried look. I hoped that she wasn't looking at me like that because she thought I was guilty? "Zero Kiryu" Maria started, lining her voice in compulsion. Takuma cringed from standing to close to her and yet…I felt nothing. She continued without pause "Have you associated with Bato Hatake, and in turn formed an alliance with him in order to betray Kaname Kuran and the night dorm by relaying their secrets?" She asked firmly. Her question was unlike the ones she had asked the others. It was demanding, straightforward and to the point which leads me to believe that she believed me to be the betrayer. I grimaced, but said nothing. The feeling that Aido described never overtook me, and I remained myself. I blinked a few times, as did Maria. She tried again, putting more force into it than last time "Zero Kiryu" She snapped "Have you or have you not formed an alliance with Bato Hatake?" She asked "Answer me!" She shrieked, getting flustered and weak.

I continued to stare at her, feeling nothing but normal. "It isn't working" Ichiru commented, staring down at me.

"How can that be?" Maria asked. "He couldn't possibly be immune, could he?" She asked, glancing at Takuma, who merely shook his head.

"No vampire is immune to a purebreds will. It is impossible" He said, staring at me with a confused expression.

"Well he is clearly not responding" She said. I was just as confused as everyone else.

"It isn't possible" Aido said, stepping forward.

I remembered the vampire and the mirror, the reflection of the demon living inside of me and the pieces seemed to fall in place. I laughed, causing all the vampires to stare at me as if I had gone mad, and in some cases I probably had.

"What are you laughing at?" Takuma asked, backing up slightly.

I stood up and took Yuki's chin into my hands "It doesn't bother me." I said, burying my face into her flesh and inhaling the smell of her warm pulsating blood. "I don't feel anything." I added. No bloodlust, no thirst, no burning in my throat. All the usual problems that aroused from me being so close to Yuki seemed like nothing, completely insignificant.

"What are you talking about?" Shiki asked, stepping in front of Rima.

I stood before the night class and smiled, revealing my sharp fangs. Now that Kaname was gone, and Bato already knew it was time to inform the vampires of what I was. If we were to truly be allies in the upcoming war then they had every right to know. "I am a vampire." I stated simply. "If I were human, would I have taken this test in the first place?" I asked as dawning arose in Shiki's face. Apparently he, Rima and Siren had not realized why I had offered to stand before Maria in the first place (considering humans were somewhat immune to vampire compulsion.) Even Takuma seemed a bit shocked by this revelation. Kain, Aido, and Ruka remained un-phased and impassive.

"You're a vampire?" Rima yelped. "When did this happen?" she asked, glancing around.

"I have always been a vampire." I said. Yuki was pulling on my sleeve but I ignored her.

"We can talk about this later" Ichiru interrupted "We need to continue questioning before Maria passes out." He said, laying his hand gently on Maria's. The other vampires agreed that the continuation of the questioning was the best idea, and Shiki stepped up.

Maria asked him a series of questions, to which he answered calmly then sent him away. Rima stepped up and went through the same examination. Once she passed she flaunted over and looped her arm in Shiki's, smiling at him.

The only two vampires left were Ruka and Siren who were both staring at each other. "I will go first, if you don't mind." Siren said, strolling up to Maria. I tensed as she passed me and the monster that lived inside of me stirred. I clenched my fist as Siren kneeled next to Maria and bowed her head.

"Siren, is it?" Maria asked, unsure of the name.

"Yes, Miss Kurenia, I am Siren" She assured. Ichiru felt it at the same time I did, just as the first question left Maria's lips "Do you, Siren, have any allegiances to Bato Hatake?" She asked, her voice ringing out clear. Ichiru tightened his hold on his gun, and I took a slight step forward as Siren opened her mouth to answer.

She hesitated.

A/n - …This was one of my favorite chapters, mostly due to the fact that you really get to see home the night class students interact with each other and how easily suspicion spreads. Do you think Siren is the spy? Or could it be Ruka? Stay tuned for the next installment Chapter nine; The lazy day to find out a little bit more about Ichiru and Maria and there tentative relationship. As always, please read and review and remember, NO FLAMES!


	9. Chapter nine: Maria Kurenia

I don't own vampire knight. End of story.

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

"Our fate seemed sickly ironic when put in that light."

Ichiru Kiryu

Chapter nine: The lazy day

For anyone who reads this,

Zero here again. Once again my story is being interrupted, this time by my traitor brother Ichiru Kiryu. He ran away with the pureblood that slaughtered my family, then a number of years later came back in order to assist that vampire in murdering me, which didn't work so he disappeared again and came back in order to join the day class as a human student. Imagine my surprise (and annoyance.) His story will explain his relationship with the small frail pureblood Maria Kurenia and maybe reveal some of his demented motives that caused him to betray me in the first place.

I must go now in order to deal with important matters; I shall see you in the next chapter.

Zero Kiryu

Kaname Kuran was dead and my contract with Rido Kuran was rendered null in void which meant that I had no real reason to remain at Cross academy with my brother who hates me and a bunch of people who idolize my but inevitably have no idea who I really am, or what I am capable of and so I have made the decision to leave this place.

I hated it here anyway, and longed for Shizuka, who used to be my traveling companion. Shizuka was a vampire who promised to one day heal me by turning me into a vampire (I have a weak body.) You see, when I was younger and I lived with my dear brother Zero the hunter society informed me that I would not be able to follow in my parent's footsteps and become a hunter as they had. I was sickly, frail and for the most part relied on my brother and I was quite aware of my weakness. Zero however remained naive to my feelings and the contempt that seemed to be blackening my heart, so when Shizuka Hio came to our house looking to avenge her murdered fiancée' I seized the opportunity to become stronger and left with her.

Shizuka turned my brother on the spot, and for a long time I couldn't comprehend why. Of course now I am overly aware of the fact that Shizuka, much like Yagari (the man who trained me as a hunter) favored Zero and was only using me as a pawn.

Of course this realization injured my pride, but Shizuka had made me somewhat stronger even if she was never able to turn me into a vampire as she promised. I knew little of what she was planning for my brother and now that she is dead I am able to freely wonder whether what I did was worth it in the end.

To my brothers credit I do not believe that he meant to scorn me. He was nothing but wonderful to me for the entirety of our lives (up to the point where his was ended by my mistresses.) Though our relationship can never return to what it was after my ultimate betrayal, and I had no real reason to return to him. Though I had to admit that if my time spent at Cross academy had thought me anything, it was that I honestly missed my brother and at times I even found myself thinking about reconciling with him.

It was a silly thing to have wanted. After all these years it seemed almost cruel for me to want some sort of closure, but that is in fact what I wanted, even if the feeling itself was futile. This only further proves that I truly am as weak as the hunter society believes I am.

I tucked these thoughts away because they are dangerous. Should I cross my brother again I am sure that he would have no qualms against killing me on the spot, especially now that he had someone else whom needed his protection. Her name was Yuki Cross and she was a friendly, clumsy human girl who seemed to be overly attached to my brother.

She made me almost want to be friends with her had she not already claimed her loyalty to my brother Zero. For the brief time that I remained at Cross academy, Yuki was the only one who seemed to treat me kindly, all the while being one of the only ones who knew exactly how dark and corrupted I was beneath my pretty face.

Though outside of Cross academy I am not completely alone. In Shizuka's wake she left me an unlikely friend, a frail pureblood girl named Maria Kurenia, whom Shizuka had used in order to gain a body and hunt my brother down, because she needed his blood. Maria and I were united by the common betrayal by Shizuka Hio, and now I can't seem to separate myself from her for long.

I suppose that even though Shizuka, whom I had originally fallen in love with lived inside of Maria, it was Maria herself whom I had been talking to all that time, leaving a strange sense of duty and loyalty. I wasn't sure if Marie felt this odd connection between us or not, but now that I had no reason to remain at Cross academy, Maria was the first person I wanted to see.

I left in the middle of the night, not bothering to inform the goofy headmaster of my departure. Instead I escaped in the dead of night and moved silently through the sleepy town on quick feet, making my way to the house of Kurenia which rested on a hill in a nearby town. It took me nearly three days to reach her home, and despite the long journey I had difficulties convincing the guards to allow me to see her.

It was frustrating, because if I were to mention Shizuka Hio who had essentially stolen Maria from her home I would be unmercifully attacked, and considering I, much to my own displeasure, remain a human for the moment, did not necessarily wish to be ripped apart by vampire guards. I would have to think of a different approach if I were to see Maria again.

So I waited, crouched down in bushes far enough away from the house that I could still survey the area and remain out of the vampire's sensory range. It took nearly three days of steady surveillance on my part before I was able to even catch site of Maria (who was for some reason climbing over the back fence of the large mansion and escaping into the nearby forest.

I took off after her, dashing through the forest at full speed and catching up with her in a matter of minutes. "Maria!" I said once I had ambushed her. I didn't mean to scare her, but she jumped when she heard me and tripped over a nearby tree branch which sent her crashing to the ground. I reached out in order to catch her, but ended up falling myself.

"I-Ichiru?" She asked as I pulled myself off of her and pulled her up off the cold ground. She brushed the dirt off her outfit and I apologized. "It's alright, you just startled me. I thought you were one of the guards." She said, giggling.

"What are you doing out in the forest?" I asked, slightly alarmed by her reckless behavior. The short years that I had served as Shizuka's guard and Maria's companion had caused me to possess and undeniable need to protect her, whether it be due to my allegiance to Shizuka or something else entirely I wasn't sure.

"Don't worry about me! I have been escaping from the castle all my life" She assured, grabbing my hand "Common, I want to show you something." She said, pulling me along.

She dragged me down a slightly unrecognizable path deep within the forest. It concerned me to think that she traveled this route on numerous occasions, considering how open it seemed to attack. Considering purebloods were highly sought after, she needed to be more careful. "This is dangerous" I commented, my voice hiding the concern that I was feeling for her safety

"Probably" She agreed "Most of the time I am afraid, but whit you hear it doesn't seem so bad." She said, continuing to pull me along. I frowned at her, but allowed me to continue.

It took nearly ten minutes of steady walking before we were able to reach our destination. It was a small clearing in the forest which was littered in yellow flowers which all seemed to sparkle in the sun. "Isn't it just lovely?" She asked, beaming at me.

I was never really interested in nature, so I didn't see the appeal, but her smile was slightly contagious and I smiled at her despite myself. "How did you find this place?" I asked.

"I escaped the mansion one day and ended up out here after an hour or two of wandering, of course now I know the short cut so it isn't so bad. I come here a lot to think, and since my vampire abilities are so weak, the sun doesn't usually bother me." She said, moving to the middle of the clearing and lying down among the plentiful flowers.

I sat down beside her despite my annoyance and allowed the sun to beat down upon me. It felt warm and inviting, and I almost felt calm sitting in the clearing with her. "It must be hard for you" I commented on her frailty. I too had been born with a number of illnesses and weaknesses, which is what made me turn to Shizuka in the first place. Or was it cowardice? Fear that my brother would soon leave me alone in order to fulfill his duties as a hunter just as Yagari used to do?

No time like the present to dwell on the past, I suppose. I wondered if my brother would have truly left me all alone in order to go out hunting, even though he knew that I needed him much more than the hunter society ever would. I sometimes had my doubts. My brother loved me much more than my parents did, that much was clear. Considering that, according to the legend that said twin children of the hunters supposedly come out stillborn neither of us should be alive in the first place.

That would have made it easier, I suppose, if I had never been forced into this wretched cruel world in the first place. Or would it have? My brother was alive for a purpose. Yuki Cross needed my brother, even if she hadn't quite come to terms with the need herself but what reason had I to live? Shizuka didn't need me for any more reason than to piss my brother off and my brother most certainly didn't need me, especially now that he was granted the powers of a vampire. So what reason did I have to live?

I glanced tentatively at Maria, who was sprawled out in the grass chatting animatedly. She seemed completely unaware of the fact that I was not listening to her. I tried to ignore her comments and focus on my own buzzing thoughts, but something broke through and I ended up listening to her despite my efforts to ignore her. "So what were you doing in the forest Ichiru?" She asked, looking up at me and studying my face in a curious manner.

I had never taken time to look at Maria; she was fairly attractive for a vampire, with soft gray eyes and straight silver hair. She was short and had a dainty form with nice enough curves, though I had never been interested in girls since I had up to this point been blinded by my love for Shizuka. I didn't know how to answer her question. "I am not sure what you mean." I said, dodging her question.

She frowned at me "How can you not know why you were in the forest?" She asked. Now she probably thought I was deranged, not that it really bothered me.

"Why I was in the forest?" I repeated, trying to think of a plausible excuse as to why I was miles away from where I was supposed to be. I couldn't think of one, so I told the truth. "I came to check on you" I admitted.

She blushed at my statement and a smile pulled up her lips. "I told Yuki that I wanted to talk with you, did she relay the message?" She asked. Yuki had told me this, but I thought it might have been a trap so I ignored her statement.

"Yes, she told me but that isn't why I wanted to come here." I said. "I wanted to know if I could become your companion again." I asked, bluntly.

Her face turned crimson "My companion?" She repeated, misinterpreting my words.

"Yes, like I used to be. I could go back to being your guard." I offered, close to pleading. Without Maria I had nothing but a ridiculous looking mask and a broken sword, and a brother long scorned by betrayal. I had nothing worth having, that is.

"But Shizuka is dead" She said. I had long since given up my affections and loyalties to Shizuka.

"I don't care about that anymore. I no longer hold any kind of allegiance to Shizuka Hio." I assured her. I decided that I would more properly convey my message if I asked in a more formal fashion, so I kneeled before her and bowed my head.

"Purebred Maria Kurenia, if you will allow me such an honor that I hereby dedicate myself to serving and protecting you for as long as I am privileged to live." I stated, flatly. Emotion was not one of my strong points.

Maria giggled at my effort "I am not an average pureblood; you don't have to be so formal. I view you as my friend, Ichiru, not my knight." She said. That word lingered, and it bothered me. What did she mean I wasn't her knight? Knights were duty bound to protect the people that they had sworn to serve, which was exactly what I was doing. Of course on the other hand knight was a noble word, and nobility was a characteristic that I seemed to lack. It was probably something that my brother possessed, that would be just my luck.

"I wish to be your knight as well as your friend, if you will be kind enough to allow me to do so." I stated, bowing further.

She raised an eyebrow at me "If you are serious about this, but you are only human. By pledging to be my knight you are putting yourself into all kinds of danger" She warned.

"I am willing to make that sacrifice." I promised, sealing my fate with a pledge to never leave her side until I was cut down by someone more powerful than I. It seemed a foolish thing to promise her, considering to the purebloods she wasn't considered any kind of threat or target, so my job may very well end up being nothing more than to keep her company, but it would be worth it, if at least to have someone to make idol conversation with.

"Alright then" She said. She seemed confused but at the same time excited by the prospect. I wondered if my brother had ever pledged his life to Yuki Cross. It didn't seem like something he would do, but I had seen the way they looked at each other, with eyes unclouded by judgment. Yuki cared very little about the fact that my brother was a monster, and I cared very little about the fact that Maria was a vampire. "Usually a guard would express his loyalty by allowing me to bite them" Maria said, catching my attention once more.

It wasn't an open invitation, merely a comment. "You may do as you wish to me" I told her, continuing to kneel before her.

"That is sweet but I have no interest in blood bonds, or in spoiling your humanity with my venom." She said. I bit the inside of my lip. I knew Maria held such reservations regarding the fragility of human life, but I wanted nothing more than to become a vampire.

"I respect your wishes, in that case." I said as she stood up and brushed herself off once more.

"I need to get back to the mansion" She said, holding her hand out to me. I wearily took her hand and allowed her to once more drag me through the forest as the sun faded into the distance sheltering us in darkness. She tightened her grip on my hand.

"You're not afraid of the dark are you?" I asked her, stepping up next to her.

"Of course not! I am a vampire!" She said, sounding incredulous. Her voice wavered slightly which proved my point. "Ok, maybe a little bit." She admitted. "Promise not to tell anyone!" She begged, turning around and almost tripping.

"It's alright as long as I am here you have no reason to be afraid." I promised, catching her in my arms. We soon breached the forest and stood in front of the mansion gates. Maria huffed out a breath and stopped, placing her hands on her knees.

"You are still weak; you should have stayed at the mansion." I fretted over her poor health.

"You worry too much, Ichiru." She said, wrapping her hands around the metal bars and attempting to climb up (and failing miserably.) She fell back to the earth and I caught her before she hit the rough unforgiving ground.

"Allow me" I said, jumping up and over the tall iron fence and landing agile on the other end with her in my arms.

"That was amazing Ichiru!" She praised, giggling.

"If you say so" I said, continuing to carry her across the lawn.

"Put me down Ichiru!" She yelped.

"Forgive me" I said, continuing to carry her "But you're shaking from fatigue." She was trembling in my arms and her breath was coming out ragged.

"This happens all the time; it is nothing to worry about." She said, blushing as I carried her through the open back door and followed her directions through her house.

I pulled out the mask that I was carrying in my oversized trench coat pocket and placed it against my nose without dropping Maria "If I was caught in this house and recognized I would be murdered without question." I explained when she gave me a quizzical look.

"That makes sense I guess, but they won't harm you if you have me" She assured me as I stomped up the stairs "It's the second door on the left" She said, pointing at the door. It was large, oak and looked fairly expensive. I pulled the door open, surveyed the room and waltzed in.

It looked mostly like a common rich girl's room. It had smooth creamy colors and soft furniture "Lavish" I commented, taking in the room. It looked fit for a sickly princess, perfect for Maria. She walked over and sat down on the squishy bed, bouncing slightly and patting the spot beside her. "How long before they find me?" I asked, speaking of her guards.

"I don't know, they usually focus more on my brother than they do on me, so it could be a while." She said, shrugging. She didn't seem to think it was too important and brushed it off.

"If you say so" I commented as she laid back against the bed.

"It is nice not to be forced to worry about Shizuka's will, to just be comfortable in my own body dictated by my own thoughts" She said as her breathing returned back to normal.

"Comfortable?" I repeated, not quite understanding her statement.

"Don't you remember a time when you were happy, and your life was calm. When you didn't have any worries or fears? No enemies to worry about, or a time when you weren't driven by revenge?" She asked, speaking of Shizuka's thoughts. Shizuka was a very disturbed individual.

I though back to a time when Zero and I were younger, and we frolicked and played happily with no regards to hunters or vampires. We were merely two happy brothers who loved and cared for each other. I was happy for a very short time back then, before I began living in my brothers shadows. Our story reminds me of the story of Romulus and Ramous the brothers whom, in roman times, ended up killing each other.

I didn't want to be pitted against my brother in that type of situation no matter how inferior he makes me feel. Even now after all these years he is better than me, he is happy at Cross academy with Yuki and his other friends. He is a powerful vampire who doesn't have to worry about getting ill or being murdered by both the vampire and the hunter council.

How little I knew about him…

"What are you thinking about?" Maria asked, pulling the mask off my face so that she could better read my expressions.

"I can't remember a time like that" I lied.

"Well what about right now?" She asked. "You don't have to be on your guard, no one is going to attack us here at the mansion." She assured me. "I thought that now that Shizuka was out of the way, you would be able to be happy?" She said. It was more of a question as to why I wasn't happen, than it was a statement.

"Now I think I am bitterer than I was when Shizuka was alive." I stated, flatly. She frowned at me.

"Is it because you miss your brother?" She guessed. I almost growled at her, but stopped myself. I didn't like to talk about my brother to anyone by myself (which now that I think about it is probably not normal.) My brother was a tense subject but she spoke of him so nonchalantly, as if it didn't even matter.

And come to think of it why _should_ it matter? I have been obsessing about my brother for years now but if I had never betrayed him to begin with we would still be together and I might still be happy…maybe.

"No, of course not" I denied it. I didn't miss him I just…thought about him on occasion. I mean we are twins after all, and sometimes I wonder if twin telepathy fades away with distance or if some of my more bipolar emotional reactions are due more to what my brother is feeling that what I am feeling. Could that kind of bond ever truly disappear or will I always be able to feel him (even on a subconscious level?)

"I won't tell anyone" She promised quietly. I almost smiled at her, but I hadn't smiled in so long I had forgotten how.

"I don't miss him, I just wonder what it would be like if I had never met Shizuka Hio." I said. It wasn't a total lie, but I believe that she saw through it regardless. Maria seemed to know more about me than was probably best, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

"Really? I wonder what it is like to have a twin…" She said, trailing off in thought.

"It isn't as glamorous as you would think. I always have to deal with his emotions creeping into my brain and on rare occasions I can feel it if he becomes injured. It almost makes me wonder if is as aware of me as I am of him, or if he has learned to block me out after all these years." I said. I shouldn't have been revealing my more private thoughts to her, but I trusted Maria to not be a backstabber like Shizuka had been.

"My brother hates me too, so I think I understand."

I glanced at her "Why does he hate you?" I asked, curiously.

"I am not entirely sure, to be honest. I think he is jealous because my parents tend to dote on me when I get sick, although on most days they ignore me and teach him how to continue on the family business so I can't possibly imagine why he would ever be jealous of me." She said, twirling my mask around her fingers. "This thing is kind of creepy" She said, placing it on her face and peering at me with her soft caring eyes.

My cold soul melted under her gaze and I felt my cheeks heat up "It doesn't look scary on you." I assured her and she smiled at me. "Maybe your brother isn't jealous of you? It seems to me like he might just want to spend time with you, instead of always being under his parent's watchful eyes. He might be envious that you get to do as you wish, whereas he must act while always taking his impact on your parents company into account." I offered. It seemed a reasonable solution to both of our sibling troubles. Well, it would have been a solution to mine had I not gone and messed it up further.

"I guess that makes sense." She said "If that is the case though, he has an odd way of showing it." She said, yawning.

"Guys will do strange things around the people that they care about" I answered "We cannot easily express our feelings, and because of this we sometimes get misinterpreted." I said.

Maybe the feud between my brother and I is only one huge misunderstanding that can be resolved with time and quite a bit of apologies? Could I stand in front of my brother and apologize by telling him that my motives were not justified? It seems unlikely, but not impossible.

"Maybe you should apologize to your brother, and I should apologize to mine?" She said sitting up and turning to face me.

"Don't get me wrong, I want to reconcile with my brother but I don't think that he will ever be able to forgive me for what I have done." I said.

"A bond between brothers, much less twins don't just go away" Maria said. "Your brother probably misses you as much as you miss him, don't you think?" She asked, reaching up and placing one of her small cold hands on my left cheeks.

"If I ever have the opportunity, I will try and reconcile with him then." I promised her. She smiled, looking satisfied with me.

"You may find that your brother is more understanding than you think" She said. I saw through her words.

"Your brother doesn't hate you at all, does he?" I asked.

She giggled "You are sharp, for a human." She said "You knew the answer to your own problem; you just needed a shove in the right direction."

I rolled my eyes at her. She had tricked me into revealing my true feelings, but I didn't think less of her because of it. She was attempting to help me which was rare.

"Thank you Maria" I said. "Humans are sharper than you think, I may not be an official hunter who is recognized by the hunter society, but I was still raised to see through a vampires act."

She just continued to smile at me "You are still just a silly boy, whether you are a human or a vampire, all boys are the same. So prideful and unable to admit when they need someone else's help." She said. "You are more like your brother than you realize, I think" She added.

"How so?" I asked.

"Just think about it for a second, your brother is a vampire who has formed an alliance with a human female, and you are a human who has formed an alliance with a vampire female." She said.

Our fate seemed sickly ironic when put in that light.

A/n – Ichiru's chapter was slow, but it proves that Ichiru and Zero's fates are connected somehow, which will become clearer in later chapters. Honestly I didn't want to end it right there, but it seemed so bittersweet. It would also seem that Ichiru and Maria don't necessarily have a romantic relationship, rather a common desire to spend time together which has the potential to turn into more. Well that's it for me; Read and Review people and remember, NO FLAMES!


	10. Chapter ten: Takuma Ichijo

I don't own Vampire Knight. End of story.

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

Warning; Excessive violence and blood spill.

"I seemed to be the only one who was un-affected by his command and as my brother and I stood side-by-side, I knew what was going to happen and I knew why we could never win as we were."

Zero Kiryu

Chapter ten: The hunters

Part One -

The minute Siren hesitated Ichiru moved but I, being the faster of the two of us managed to pin her on the ground before my brother took a step. Siren finished her answer "I do have allegiances with Bato Hatake." She assured us all of our fears.

Ruka let out a snarl "Siren, how could you possibly do this to us? You were Kaname's bodyguard? Why would you wish to betray him?" She asked, almost yelling. "Tell me that you were forced to act on his will due to the compulsion" She begged the other girl.

"Of course not, I am working for him of my own free will, what kind of girl do you take me for?" Siren snapped as I kept her pinned down. "What did Kaname have to offer me?" She snapped at Ruka "He didn't even need my protection" She said, tears forming in her eyes. "Bato offered me something that Kaname could never give me." She said.

"What could that possibly be?" Aido asked, looking slightly disturbed. No one wanted Sirens comment to get graphic. I cringed at the very thought.

"Satisfaction" Siren stated, wriggling out of my grasp and knocking me to the ground. She made a mad dash for the door but was blocked by Kain and Aido who glared her down.

"You aren't getting out of here alive, if that is the case." Kain warned her. I grabbed the 'Bloody Rose' gun from Yuki and aimed it at Siren. It was mostly for show, if I shot it when she was in such close proximity with Aido and Kain the bullet would injure them as well, if I was going to take her down I would have to rely on my physical strength to do it.

"Oh I beg to differ" Siren said, glaring at Kain before turning and heading towards the staircase. She was quick but not quite quick enough; my brother and I fired at her with our hunter weapons and shot her simultaneously in the back, knocking her to the ground. Ruka made a move, as if to go check on Siren but Kain managed to hold her back.

"There is nothing you can do" He assured her, keeping his hand wrapped around her waist and restraining her.

Siren twitched a few times but her efforts were futile, and after a moment of struggling she gave up and laid still. "Did that kill her?" Ichiru asked, stepping up beside me.

"It looks that way" I said, watching her body. I got the strangest feeling that the battle wasn't quite over, and that we weren't out of danger yet.

"Do you feel that?" Ichiru asked. It looked like we were in sync once more, after just a short reunion. I smiled. It felt good to be beside my brother in a non-hostile manner for the first time in nearly ten years.

"You know it, brother." I said, trying to find the source of the strange feeling.

Siren stood up slowly, her movements strained and surreal. "She is being controlled" Aido said, loud enough for the others to hear. It would be the only warning we got, before the chaos broke loose.

Sirens body flung itself at Rima, who was the closest vampire to her and attacked her. Shiki ran to assist Rima as Bato revealed himself; he stepped coolly out of the shadows and glared at us with blood red eyes. The look on his face told me that he wasn't here for small talk. "How ironic this is, that I find the hunter brothers together" He said, regarding me and my brother for a brief second "It saved me the trouble of hunting you down" He said, before charging us.

I managed to dodge him and Ichiru caught the brunt of Batos head butt. I should have known that Ichiru was still the weaker of the two of us, and that I still needed to protect him. He rolled across the floor, landing in a heap in front of a completely terrified Maria. Yuki managed to pull Maria's trembling form out of the chair and drag her out of the room as quickly as she could while Bato was distracted with Kain and Ruka.

I ran to my brothers side "Ichiru? Are you alright?" I asked, shaking his shoulder. He came around after a second and stood up.

"I'm not as weak as I used to be" He assured me, holding onto what I imagined to be a broken rib.

Shiki and Siren were rolling around on the floor in a heap of snarls and flesh as Rima attempted to attack Siren while managing to miss Shiki in the process "Let him go Siren! He is your friend!" She begged, not realizing that the Siren she had known died when Ichiru and I shot her. Lightning shot from her fingers, managing to stun Siren long enough for Shiki to take advantage of her shock and fling her off of him.

Meanwhile Aido was attempting to assist Kane in attacking Bato, and Ruka lied on the floor already rendered un-conscious. If Kaname was planning on playing the hero, now would be a good time to appear and save the day. Who was I kidding? Unless someone were to spill Yuki's blood, Kaname wouldn't have any way of knowing we were fighting Bato, and I was stupid enough to keep his whereabouts a secret from Yuki, who was the one person able to act freely without being one of Batos targets.

Bato caught Kane by surprise and sent him flying across the room and crashing into the nearby staircase, I could hear his spine snap under the pressure. Aido, who was angered by the attack on his cousin, froze Bato with his ice, but it was useless. It took Bato less than a second to break free from the frozen prison and attack Aido, taking a large chunk out of Aido's shoulder with his abnormally large teeth.

"What are we going to do?" Ichiru asked. I held my Blood Rose gun up and emptied a round into Sirens lifeless body. The bullets were enough to melt her flesh from her bone, and turn her into a puddle on the floor.

Other unimportant night class students who seemed to be under Batos control were assisting in the battle now, seemingly appearing from nowhere. I dropped the Bloody Rose into my pocket and turned to my brother "What choice do we have?" I asked as the other vampires surrounded us "It looks like we fight." I said, baring my fangs at the vampire who advanced on us.

"Fine by me" Ichiru agreed, shooting the closest vampire to him and knocking it to the ground. These vampires were all puppets, acting solely under the command of Bato Hatake. They were soulless, and therefore I had no reservations about taking their lives.

Rima, who was thinking on her feet, shot Ruka and Kane with twin lightning bolts, serving to jump start their systems and awaken them from their unconscious states. Kane came back with a vengeance, flame broiling nearly seven vampires that attacked him, but the puppet vampires continued to arrive. I was fairly sure that Aido was dead, and Ruka seemed to be having trouble with the vampires attacking her as well.

I attacked one of the vampires closest to me and managed to separate one of his arms from the socket, causing him to cry out and stumble backwards. I seemed to be at a disadvantage, seeing as I was the only vampire without a specific power; even my brother had his guns to protect him.

I quickly pulled the Bloody Rose out of my pocket and attempted to reload it but before I could load more than one bullet Bato attacked me from behind, knocking both the gun in one direction and the clip in another and causing me to hit the ground. I recovered within seconds, turning on Bato and snarling a warning at him.

My face felt warm as Kane's flames lit up the room, destroying most of the puppet vampires. My light sensitive eyes unfocused for a moment, long enough for Bato, who was turned away from the flames and therefore not as affected as I was, to sucker punch me in the gut. I doubled over, but the pain was minimal. My eyes readjusted and I head butted Bato in the face, knocking him backwards.

One of the left over puppet vampires attacked my brother, causing him to drop his gun which fired when it hit the ground and ended up shooting Kane, who dropped to the floor. Ruka ran over in order to protect Kane's body as Shiki did the same for Aido but more puppet vampires began to arrive. The new crops of vampires were not wearing the night class uniform, which led me to believe that Bato was planning a full force barrage on Kaname's allies. I swung at Bato once more swiping him with my claws. I hoped that Yuki was far enough away the she wouldn't be caught in the crossfire, but then I heard Maria call my brother's name and my blood ran cold.

Yuki was here, unprotected in the midst of who knows how many vampires and the worst part is that she was injured and weaponless. Bato was too focused on me to noticed Maria or Yuki and had begun blindly swinging at me, laughing madly. "Isn't this delightful? I will destroy everything close to Kaname in one short battle, and then walk merely inches away from this place in order to enjoy the buffet!" He laughed. The buffet he was referring to was the day class, a group of humans who were for the most part completely ignorant to the existence of vampires.

Takuma, whom I had completely forgotten about up to this point, smashed a chair over Batos head in a very barbarian fashion for someone as noble as himself. "Good job" I praised.

"Don't get excited yet" He said, as Bato clamored back onto his feet, snarling at us both. I quickly surveyed the scene.

Maria was trying to force my brother awake (he had apparently been knocked unconscious) and Yuki was protecting the pair with what looked like the arm of one of the expensive chairs. Aido was lying in a bloody heap on the cold floor, and Rima and Shiki were desperately trying to protect themselves and him while Ruka was doing the same for Kane's body. This was getting out of hand.

"Distract him" I said to Takuma, and then I made a dive for the clip of the Bloody Rose. I only had one shot, and I was going to make it count. Now would be a great time for my vampric instinct to take over, but naturally I had no such luck. I scrambled for the Bloody Rose before Bato wised up to my plan and popped the clip in.

I would have turned back to aid Takuma had Yuki not let out a scream, distracting me from my main goal. Bato noticed the noise and grabbed Takuma, easily throwing him across the room and causing him to crash into Maria, sending both of them crashing into the ground. Takuma was strong, but Maria crumpled under the force and seemed to snap in half. Meanwhile Yuki was being attacked by a puppet vampire, who had struck her a few times with the chair arm that she had been using to attack with.

I didn't hesitate, and smoothly snapped the neck of the vampire attacking Yuki, throwing him roughly to the ground. "Get out of here already!" I yelled at her.

"I can't leave them" She responded.

"ZERO!" Ruka yelled, warning me of Batos advance. It was too late.

Bato slammed his fist into the side of my head with enough force to kill a human, and the last thing I was aware of was Yuki's screaming.

_I was floating in darkness, a comfortable feeling consuming me. All of my doubts and fears seemed to fade away as I floated. There was something trying to tell me that this wasn't right, that I shouldn't just be lying around doing nothing but I wasn't quite consciously aware of why quite yet. I was comfortable and calm, unable to come to terms with the fact that I was more than likely dying._

_Something cold and sharp brushed against my skin and I whirled around in the darkness, startled. I was suddenly aware of the pain in my head but it was the mirror that had caught the bulk of my attention. The vampire was staring at me again from just below the mirrors surface. A stream of Blood flowed from his forehead down to his mouth and he licked it off, running his tongue over his sharp fangs, sharper than normal vampires would have been._

'_What do you want with me?' I wanted to ask him but I could not form the words needed to speak._

_The word 'fool' echoed around in my head and the vampire opened his mouth in order to laugh at me. 'Who do you think you are?' He asked, his words hissing around in my mind, sinister and lined in malice. 'Are you a hunter or a vampire?' The voice demanded an answer from me, but I had no answer for him. _

_I floated along and the vampire that was me but at the same time wasn't me followed. He was mocking me for being so weak. 'I am both' I answered suddenly 'I am a vampire, and I am a hunter. I have been mocking nature since I cheated death at birth, why can I not be a fusion of two of the most unlikely creatures?' I thought, unaware that my thoughts were echoing in the darkness._

'_Then set me free, and embrace what you are. Embrace the monster within and move forward' the vampire whispered, his blood red eyes returning to their normal color. I closed my eyes for a second and let a number of thoughts race through my mind before opening them again._

_My reflection stared back at me and my answer was clear. I had always been a monster, even before I was a vampire. The hunters were brought up to murder the vampires, and the vampires were monsters because they fed on the blood of humans. My nature contradicted itself and yet the two opposing forces fused like yin and yang within me, creating something that was neither vampire nor hunter but something in-between. Something that was powerful and virtually unstoppable. _

_My reflection stared back at me, one of my silver eyes bleeding red and smiled at me, revealing a row of razor sharp incisors 'What are you waiting for?' I asked myself, as the mirror cracked and shattered._

My eyes shot open and I jumped to my feet, letting out a snarl. Bato, who had previously been drinking blood from Shiki's limp form turned to me my comrades all, laid in heaps, save my brother who was attempting to stand on a leg with multiple breaks in it. The puppet vampires had been lingering in case one of us decided to wake back up and dish out one last slew of pain, which was exactly what I was about to do.

Without hesitation I ran at the nearest vampire, my now accelerated speed making it almost impossible to follow my movements and cut down nearly twenty vampires in a matter of seconds, stopping only to lick the blood off my fingers.

Bato laughed at me as if I wasn't a threat "So it has finally happened! You have fallen to a level 'E' vampire! How poetic, how absolutely perfect!" He said, clasping his meaty hands together.

I wasn't a level 'E' vampire…was I?

"Now I can simply tell the council that _you_ killed these young vampires and continue my plan uninterrupted, I can't thank you enough my boy! I knew I would like you since the moment I met you, and now I know why.

I wasn't a level 'E' vampire. I couldn't be…could I?

He continued his monologue, boasting about his now assured victory. I wanted to scream at him, to tell him that I would never become a level 'E' vampire as long as I had a reason to remain myself. I snarled at him once more, finally able to form words "_I am no level 'E'_" I snapped, charging at him before he had a chance to respond.

My brother had managed to stand up, and fired a shot at Bato. It didn't even faze him. Why did purebloods have to be so damn powerful? "Don't tell me that, you have to be a level 'E'" Bato said, mocking me. "Your _eyes_ are red" He said, and then the smile faded from his face. Apparently he had just realized that it was only one of my eyes that were red, and the other one remained untainted. "How is that possible?" He asked no one in particular, but before he had a chance to further question my existence I slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

I snarled and snapped at him separating his flesh from bone, though in my madness I had forgotten one thing, vampire aristocrats and purebloods all possessed specific powers, which were usually unique to a specific person and typically elementally focused. Bato pressed his hand into my stomach in my frenzy and something pulsated inside of me, causing blood to surface in my throat and pool out of my mouth, streaming down in a fountain. Bato knocked me off of him, and I landed at my brother's feet.

"You are a fool Zero Kiryu; we could have made such a good team." He said, holding out his hand and causing Ruka's body to rise off the floor. He was going to use her as a puppet, despite the fact that she seemed to still be alive. He used his strange power to control Kane, Shiki and Rima as well, turning them on me and my brother. "No go and kill your friends" He ordered the puppets. "And you" He added, lining his voice in thick compulsion. Maria was rising slightly, trying to grasp what was happening. "Stay where you are" He ordered. Marias body immediately froze up in response and I seemed to be the only one who was un-affected by his command and as my brother and I stood side-by-side, I knew what was going to happen and I knew why we could never win as we were.

I had to take my chances and abandon my friends in order to regroup, or else Bato would kill me and my brother at the same time. I looked at Ichiru praying that we were still in sync and that he was still able to feel what I was planning. He gave me a worried look and I nodded ever so slightly as the puppet bodies ambled towards us. "Were hunters" Ichiru whispered "But we are also brothers, and I will stand by you no matter what decision you make" He said, whispering so low that even Bato couldn't hear him.

"Then grab Maria and RUN" I yelled as I pulled the Blood Rose out and fired my only bullet at Bato. The bullet breezed past our friends, the force being enough to knock them to the ground. As the bullet hit Bato in the face Ichiru scooped Maria into his arms and I grabbed Yuki but before we could make our escape we were met with an even greater challenge.

Kaysha and Seki stood in the hallway, which seemed to be our only means of likely escape and glared us down, challenging us both. Were we doomed to die here in the night dorm, side by side as we should have so many years ago in our mother's womb? Was this to be the fate of the only pair of hunter twins in recorded history? Was there no hope for our friends? Were they destined to die as well? Could fate truly be that cruel? It seemed to be so as the two of them stood blocking our exit.

There was no chance for any of us, and we were all going to die.

The thought registered in my mind, but I rejected it and snarled at the pair. Bato had more-than-likely already recovered from the bullet and could have been heading towards us as we speak and I had never felt like more of a coward.

What right did I have to abandon my friends, who had helped me save Yuki when I needed them most? The adrenaline coursing through my veins sped up my pulse and I resolved to fight to the death, for my brother, for my friends, for myself but mostly for Yuki who was the main reason I had not killed myself in the first place.

I snarled at the pureblood and the traitor hunter who stood in my way and handed Yuki to my brother, placing her awkwardly on top of Maria. My brother managed not to cripple under the added weight and gave me a determined look. "What is the plan?" He asked me, waiting for my response.

"I will take these two while you run, go to the headmaster, he can help you" I ordered then took a step forward. I had accomplished everything that I had wanted, and I bore no regrets. My brother and I had somewhat reconciled and I had confessed my feelings for Yuki so if I were to die in this battle than at least I would die happy. I held my hands out to my sides, cracking my knuckles and striding forward.

I ran then with uncanny speed at the two and attempted to attack them. They dodged me, moving precisely at the same time in opposite directions. "Calm yourself Kiryu! We aren't here as your enemies, I am working for Kaname Kuran" Kaysha said, managing to block my next attack.

I slowed but continued attacking as Ichiru slipped away. Once he was gone I paused in order to listen to her "What do you mean you are working for Kaname?" I snapped. Seki made no move to attack me, and seemed to be closely watching Bato. "You tried to kill Yuki" I snarled, enraged.

"You have it all wrong! I was only doing as Kaname asked by following Batos orders and pretending to remain on his side until a time when I was able to betray him without being unnecessarily sacrificed." She said "Think about it, now he is injured and outnumbered, with no chance of escape." She said.

"Kaysha" Seki warned. I wheeled around as Bato ran towards me.

"I am going to murder you, Kiryu!" He said, not even bothering to use his puppets.

"Seki, take the left" Kaysha ordered, moving past me as Seki and her moved in perfect synchrony, slamming into Bato from both sides but he wasn't so easily defeated and knocked Seki off his feet and managed to avoid the full extent of their double attack, still heading like an angry freight train in my direction.

I held my hand out and braced myself for impact. He continued charging me, and just as he got close I stepped out of his way. Bato let out a sharp laugh and continued running down the darkened hallway. Realization dawned on me. Bato was never going to attack me; he was aiming for my brother.

I took one last glance at Seki, Kaysha and my friends before taking off after Bato at full speed. I had every intention of ending his reign of terror and protecting the people I cared about, and that thought alone caused me to move faster despite my multiple injuries.

Part Two – Eventual Sacrifice

There was a door at the end of the hallway that was opened, allowing the daylight to come pouring in. I exited out the door and glanced around, trying desperately to catch Bato or Ichiru's scent. Batos scent led towards the day class dorms, and I couldn't seem to pick up Ichiru's anywhere.

I quickly followed Batos scent, unaware that the campus seemed to be eerily deserted. The trail led to the girls dorm and I busted open the door, hesitating for a moment before continuing. This could have very well been a trap, for all I knew and I was the one stupidly following the bait.

I ran up three flights of stairs without stopping before the scent veered off down a hallway, I followed it and ended up in an unfamiliar room. It looked as if, at one point, it had been used as a meeting room. The room was large enough to comfortably accommodate fifty people and was filled in the middle with plush red chairs. A large elaborate coffee table seemed to be the center piece of the room and everything else flowed beyond it. There was a bar in the corner stocked with alcoholic beverages and a large painted glass window allowed the room to be warmed by sunlight.

Bato leaned against the bar casually, pouring himself a drink. There was a second filled glass sitting on the grey tiled bar for Batos guest, who was sitting comfortably in the nearest chair to the window. I snarled at the both of them. "I should have known" I chastised, watching Kaname graciously accept the drink from my enemy.

"It is so nice of you to join us, Zero Kiryu." Bato Hatake said a slight growl in his voice. I was tempted to charge him but I knew from previous experience that I couldn't take Kaname Kuran, especially without my weapon.

"Us" I repeated, snarling. Kaname remained impassive, as if I didn't exist.

"Of course, Kaname is here to witness this momentous occasion" Bato boasted. I noted the red ring around his eyes, and realized that he was stark raving mad.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, as I held my ground. Bato walked towards me slowly and with deliverance.

"You see, Zero this academy in and of itself is a mockery. Humans and vampires living in peace and harmony? Give me a break. The establishment of the hunter society and the vampire council is proof that we shall never be able to co-exist without staining our hands with years of blood. Today is the day that the vampires make themselves known as the dominate species by deliberately burning cross academy to the ground." Bato said. He seemed so conceded, so self assured. I wanted to rip his throat out. "I can see the madness in you, Zero but its ok. It plagues me as well. The hunger, the thirst, it is all natural for us, all something we should embrace rather than hide." He continued.

"I am nothing like you" I stated flatly. My statement needed no backing up, because it was one hundred percent true. I was nothing like Bato Hatake even if I was insane. "Are you in on this as well, Kuran?" I snapped, turning the bulk of my attention to Kaname. He merely shrugged as if nothing mattered.

"Remember what I told you, Kiryu. I was not lying when I told you that I would inevitably betray you." Kaname said "That time is now, so I have come to watch Cross academy burn to the ground at the hands of Batos followers.

"Burn to the ground?" I repeated, not understanding. I hadn't notice Bato steep up beside me until he grabbed me, throwing me with intense force at the painted glass window. I crashed through the third floor window but managed to recover from the sneak attack fast enough to grab the ledge and catapult myself back into the room. I cut my face on a renegade glass shard, and sliced open my palm as well.

A blood droplet splattered to the ground and any reserve Bato may have been holding onto shattered.

He attacked me with brute force, slamming me against a wall before I had time to counter attack. I sliced at him with my fingernails in order to distract him before kicking him in the stomach in order to knock him off of me. He slid across the room, crashing into one of the chairs and I tried to stay on my feet. Kaname merely watched the struggle as a potent smoke smell assaulted my nose. Batos plan had already come to fruition; I just hoped that Ichiru had gotten Yuki out before the mayhem started.

Bato recovered quickly, coming at me again and letting loose a fierce snarl. This time though, I was ready for him and I managed to dodge his initial attack only to be struck from behind by his elbow. I crashed to the ground and a sharp piercing sensation erupted in my stomach as I landed on a fairly large glass shard. I coughed a little, spitting out blood as Bato picked me up and slung me across the room with ease. I crashed into the opposing wall and crumpled to the ground.

The madness snapped within me, awakening the beast that has, for the most part laid dormant for all these years. I stood up on shaky legs and glared at Bato defiantly. I could feel my eyes bleeding red, my teeth elongating and my bones popping. Something in the back of my mind whispered that I was dying but, now that I had a purpose I would not stop. I was going to save Yuki, no matter the cost.

I never said fate wasn't cruel.

Bato attacked me again but I was faster this time, which he didn't seem to be expecting. I grabbed a ledge lingering above me and kicked him with all my might in his face, shattering his nose. Kaname had stood now, but was doing little more than observing the maybe.

Bato reached for me, but I avoided him wearily and managed to reach Kaname on the other side of the room. I picked him up and bit into his flesh, so I could momentarily save a shred of my humanity long enough to kill Bato. Kaname gripped my shoulders and broke them in one easy movement. I cried out in pain and dropped to the floor, rolling around in agony.

"Don't touch me, you filthy vampire" Kaname spat in my direction, and then he turned to Bato. "This is where my allegiance to you falters friend, I believe that you have served your purpose and I no longer wish to deal with you." He said, shooting an attack in Batos direction which he avoided.

Even together Kaname and I couldn't kill Bato; he was ridiculously strong and now driven by madness. You know what they say about wolves, cut their heads off and they can continue to bite. Bato was nothing more than an alpha male trying to get his way and even if I managed to sever his head, he will still kill me.

Bato attacked Kaname this time, catching him off guard and severing his arm from it's socket. A massive amount of blood pooled below Kaname as Bato tossed his arm aside and attacked a second time. I managed to grab a few strands of his hair and forced him backwards before he attacked and incapacitated Kaname completely.

"You can't fight him Zero, not now" Kaname yelled at me, as Bato fell of balance Kaname attacked him with his left arm, managing to do serious damage to Batos side.

"Leave me alone Kiryu, I can fight him and I will" I said, pausing to spit up more blood. _'You're going to die, fool.'_ The voice whispered, louder this time. 'Shut up' I growled in my mind, drowning out the chastising monster inside of me.

We fought two on one for what seemed like countless hours until we were all tired and out of breath. Kaname had sustained a number of injuries, not life threatening but he had used up all of his excess vampire powers and was now having to rely on his brute strength alone. Bato seemed determined to either kill us or die trying and continued to overpower us both, dodging and countering our attacks with an almost effortless casually.

I was running out of breath and the life was draining out of me through the wound in my stomach which continued to bleed. I managed to counter Bato one last time before he slammed me against the wall and broke the bulk of my ribs. I was sure from the ragged breath seeping through the crack in my teeth that one of my broken ribs had just punctured my left lung.

The room began to spin and the light faded from my eyes I slumped forward but somehow managed to stay on my feet. I was doing this for Yuki, and I had to persevere. Kaname and I were pinned against the wall closest to the open window and there seemed to be no escaping the inevitable.

The floors below us were burning, and I could feel the heat seeping through the carpet. The foundation was breaking, and the room was shifting slightly, momentarily throwing us all off balance. "We have to get out of here" I yelled to Kaname as the fire consumed the hallway and began eating at the door.

"If we all die here, then at least Yuki will have survived. This way is fair, because she never has to choose between us." Kaname said, as diplomatic as ever. I gasped, trying and failing to suck air into my crippled lungs.

Kaname was trying to be the tragic hero.

Bato readied himself to kill Kaname, aligning his fingernails into a deadly sword edge and thrusting forward at amazing speed. In a moment of clarity I realized what I was going to have to do, and stepped in front of Batos hand, allowing it to pierce through my stomach, cracking my spine in half and exiting out the other side.

If Kaname wanted to be the tragic hero, then I would be the eventual sacrifice.

I gasped once more, throwing up blood and slumping forward. I grabbed onto Batos arm and held on with what little strength remained. "K-ill him…hurry!" I gasped at Kaname; Bato was trapped and susceptible to attack.

The room spun faster as the flames consumed us. I heard a dull 'thud' as Kaname separated Batos head from his body and I dropped to the ground, no longer able to stand. "Why did you do it Zero? You could have lived?" Kaname asked kneeling down beside me.

"It was the least I could do…" I answered, throwing up more blood and what looked to be a blackened organ. "I am a level 'E' after all" I whispered as the darkness which has been chasing after me for so long reached out and dragged me under, plunging me into a never ending ocean of shadows.

"Zero" Kaname mumbled, as the flames consumed the room and the surrounding academy, eventually turning the moon dorm into a blazing inferno until nothing remained, save ash.

"_You were nothing more than a useless fool" _

A/n: Mitsuki here with the latest installment of I never said it would be easy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter; it took me forever to write because it was split into two parts! Well, two more chapters till the end and then I can focus on _It takes a fool_. Anyway read and review and stay tuned for the next installment: _Chapter eleven: What remains?_


	11. Chapter Eleven: Zero Kiryu

I don't own Vampire Knight. End of story.

May contain spoilers, may not. Your call.

"On the fourth count we realized that not all of us had survived the onslaught, and a solemn feeling overwhelmed us. I certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell her he was dead."

Unknown

Chapter eleven: What Remains? 

"Now please line up and hold still for goodness sakes! I am trying to take a count of heads, you there, settle down" Headmaster Crosses voice traveled through the restless crowd as he took count. He had managed to get an anonymous tip right before Batos initial attack and had evacuated the entire academy.

"Do we have them all?" Yuki asked, standing beside him.

"So far all the day class students are present and accounted for." Kain answered, finishing checking off names on a clip board. "We have informed all the parents and the students should all be leaving soon. Ruka has arranged for her private cars to take the remaining students home, the ones whose parents are unable to pick them up." He said, grabbing a burnt piece of wood and tossing it at a nearby pile recklessly.

"Good then" The headmaster said, pushing his glasses up the rim of his nose. "It seems that almost everything has been taken care of. Once we get the human students out of here, we will have a meeting with the night class students."

"Yes, headmaster" Kain answered, heading back to the night dorm. Yuki and Headmaster Cross oversaw the humans as they slowly left the academy. There was nothing left for them here, no reason for them to remain until the wreckage of what was left of the academy was cleared off and rebuilt.

The vampire council had sent their dearest apologies for Batos transgression, and has taken full responsibility for his actions. Little good that did though, considering the council didn't offer the headmaster any rebuilding money. "It's time then, I believe" The headmaster said, once he had seen off the last remaining day class student save Yuki and one other. Sayori, who had admitted to the headmaster about having relations with Aido Hanabusa remained.

In the scramble to evacuate the day class students, no one had been able to ask much about the night class student who had fought valiantly to save the school. Kaine and Ruka had been helping in the evacuation process, but the status of the other night class members remained a mystery.

Yuki gulped "I guess so" She said, walking behind the headmaster and heading towards the moon dorm, half of which still stood despite the fire that had consumed it. The main room of the mood dorm remained, the furniture and staircase wrecked in the battle. The floor was littered in bloodstains, and body prints where people had been thrown into the walls and such.

"This is horrible" The headmaster mumbled, surveying the mass amount of damage. "I wish I could have done more to help" He said.

"It's alright, dad" Yuki said, straining with the last word. She had always been wary about recognizing the headmaster as her father but now seemed an appropriate time to do so.

The headmaster patted Yuki lightly on the back as Ruka entered the room "Long day, I am glad to see that you are not gravely injured Yuki" She said, flicking her hair off her shoulder. Yuki silently thanked her by giving her a slight smile.

Sayori stood behind Yuki, still a little afraid of the other members of the night class. She glanced anxiously around, hoping to see Aido pop out of nowhere like he usually did. "How many casualties?" The headmaster asked. His voice was strained and impatient.

"We are not sure. Fifteen and counting so far, we are taking head counts of the night class student puppets we were forced to kill." Ruka answered, shaking her head from side to side.

"You did what was necessary." The headmaster said, solemnly. "I suppose Kain moved them elsewhere?" He asked, speaking of the bodies.

"We are contacting families and shipping the bodies home to be properly buried, it is the least we can do." She answered. "The council arrived this morning to gather the remains of Bato Hatake" She added.

"This is all so horrible" The headmaster replied, shaking his head. Shiki entered the room, grasping a piece of paper firmly in his hand.

"We have finalized the count, headmaster." He stated.

The headmaster took a long, deep breath because the number of losses in the night class would be great. "I need to hear it" He said finally.

Sayori crossed her fingers, and Yuki listened intently. "Bato Hatake has been eliminated." Seki began. "Siren has been killed as well, Ichiru Kiryu…" Yuki closed her eyes tightly. The headmaster found her lying on the ground in the middle of the academy forest, and neither Ichiru nor Maria were anywhere to be found "'s body has yet to be found" Seki finished and Yuki let out a sigh.

"Kaname Kuran has been hospitalized for third degree burns, a number of serious injuries and has regrettably lost his right arm" Ruka added, before Seki had a chance to continue. Yuki let out a loud gasp and tears began to form in her eyes.

"Of the night class student aristocrats consisting of Takuma Ichijo, Aido Hanabusa, Kaine Akatsuki, Siren, Ruka Souen, Senri Shiki, and Rima Toya we sustained but one casualty. Of the non aristocrat night class students we sustained twenty three casualties" Shiki continued. Yuki's heart pounded as she waited for them to list the one casualty.

"Which aristocrat was killed" The headmaster managed to choke out.

Shiki's voice took on a new solemn tone as he delivered the next sentence. He didn't need to tell us, because at that moment Kaine had stepped into the room with the only aristocrat casualty dangling limply from his arms. It was his cousin; Aido. "The only aristocrat casualty was Aido Hanabusa" Shiki finished, his voice dropping at the end, leaving a sadness dangling in the air behind his words.

The remaining members of the aristocrats filed in behind Kaine, and came to the headmaster's side though it wasn't the headmaster that Yuki was worried about, it was Sayori. She had dropped her head into her hands and begun sobbing as her worst fears were realized and Kaine lay Aido's body down on the only couch that had managed not to be destroyed. Once Kaine was done, he bowed to Sayori and moved back towards Ruka.

Kaine had known all along that Aido and Sayori were in love.

Yuki wrapped her arms around her best friend and cried with her. She cried for Aido, for the night class students, for Kaname, for Batos soul which was rotting in hell, for the headmasters destroyed dream and mostly she cried for me.

"Maria Kurenia's whereabouts have yet to been discovered as well" Shiki continued as Sayori and Yuki continued to sob. "As soon as Kaname Kuran awakens from his coma we will question him about Zero Kiryu but for now he has yet to be found as well. His whereabouts during the battle are also unknown. Seki the vampire hunter has been almost fatally injured and is spending time in the hospital and Kaysha Matsumi the once-traitor is staying by his side." Seki said, as Rima wrapped her arms around his and cried.

Ruka took Kain's hand and kissed it as a single tear fell from his eye. The headmaster stood strong, for the students as a sadness wrapped around the room. For a long while the room was silent and Sayori's sobs was the only audible sound. "What remains, headmaster?" Rima finally managed to ask "Now that the academy is destroyed, what is left for us?" She said, sniffing back another wave of tears.

"You children should go home" The headmaster stated "There is nothing left hear but broken dreams and black ash" He said. Yuki knew how much it must have hurt him to admit that his dream had been destroyed.

"I want to stay, if that is alright" Kain said suddenly, a look of fierce determination crossing his face. "I want to do everything in my power to rebuild this place" He said.

"For our comrades" Takuma added, standing tall.

"For those of us who survived" Rima said in a quiet voice

"For Aido" Ruka noted, solemnly

"For Zero…" Yuki whispered as the night class ignited a new flame within their hearts, a burning desire to salvage the broken dreams that the headmaster had spoken of.

"We stay then" The headmaster decreed, a new light to his eyes. He took one last look at Aido before stepping out into the sunlight and busting down in tears.

It must have been the light that finally managed to wake me, that or the voices that I could hear. Whoever was speaking didn't bother to whisper, but still the words were blurred as if I was getting fuzzy radio reception. My eyes fluttered open working to adjust to the bright sunlight glaring angrily down at the world. The only thing filtering the sunlight was a few tree branches which were swaying softly in the light wind.

I opened my mouth to speak but there was a burning in my throat and I couldn't seem able to form words. The voices had begun speaking again but I still found myself unable to hear them properly and their words sounded like nothing more than gibberish. I glanced around, surveying the area and careful not to move my head as I did so.

I was in an open clearing full of flowers and trees and dark green grass. The sunlight sparkled off the dew on the nearby flowers which ranged in color and I seemed to be alone in the clearing save the two startled blobs who were staring at me.

My eyes attempted to focus on the pair and eventually I recognized them. My brother Ichiru and Maria sat close to each other not far from me. Maria had a massive bloodstain on her stomach and I wondered if she had been injured at some point. Ichiru was covered in blood as well and he had a recognizable handprint splattered on the side of his face.

Their mouths were moving as they regarded me with shocked expressions and I finally found words "What are you looking at" I asked, my voice less than a whisper. Their voices broke through the haze in my brain as Maria shrieked

"He is alive!" She yelped, clamoring towards me on her hands and knees. "Are you alright Zero? Do you need anything?" She asked, frantically. I blinked a few times trying to interpret the horror on her face, but nothing came to mind.

"What do you mean 'I'm alive'" I asked her "Of course I am alive." I said, scrunching my face up in an annoyed manor.

"Actually, Zero" Ichiru intervened before Maria could answer me "you have been dead for quite some time." He stated, flatly. I couldn't feel enough to be shocked by his statement as all my senses began to reawaken, as if I had been in some kind of hibernation like slumber.

Memories came flooding back of the gruesome battle between Bato, Kaname and I. Images flashed through my mind of fire, sharp class and broken glass. I could feel the pain in my lungs and stomach that lingered from the injuries, even though it seemed that my wounds had been dressed by someone (I assumed it was Maria.)

"I think I am fine" I answered Maria, considering she was still staring at me intensely.

"That is good to hear! I thought you were a goner" She said, still concerned. My brother stared at me impassively but as Maria stared at me a slight smile curled up his lips, but it was gone before Maria turned back to him. I smiled while she focused on my brother as well and a comradely passed between us. A silent apology for all the past betrayals, anger and hate.

A cold dread struck me as thoughts of Yuki crossed my mind "Yuki! What happened to Yuki?" I asked, suddenly frantic and desperate to see her.

"Don't worry, I left her in the obvious path of the headmaster and she has been taken care of. She only sustained minor injuries." Ichiru assured me.

"What about you two? Are you alright?" I asked, surveying the massive amount of blood covering their clothes.

Maria frowned at me "Don't worry about us Zero, this is your blood." She stated. I had regained my feelings by this point, and the color drained from my face. The realization hit me that I really had died and that, for what seemed like the thousandth time in my life, I had somehow managed to cheat death.

"Don't give us that look" Ichiru grumbled "You ruined Maria's dress" He said, shaking his head from side to side.

Images and feelings began flashing through my brain, the fire, Kaname, The searing pain where Bato pierced my stomach, the darkness that consumed me when I died, the monster inside of me calling me useless and laughing at me as I faded from the human plane. Then the more recent images surfaced Maria's face and voice begging me to hold on, the pressure of her body as she attempted to stop the bleeding.

The piercing pain as she ripped the glass shard out of my stomach.

Bile surfaced in my throat as I remembered begging my brother to kill me in order to stop the pain that surfaced in every fiber of my being, touching his face and twisting my body around as Maria attempted to dress my numerous wounds. I remembered my brother grasping me tightly as I thrashed, trying to get me to respond to his voice and stop freaking out.

"Someone must want you alive, we cheated death when we were born and think of how many times you have done it since?" Ichiru chuckled, no humor in his voice.

"Hilarious" I commented, flatly.

"I didn't want to move you more than necessary, because I think your spinal cord is injured so I did the best I could here in the clearing, we need to find some kind of professional help or something though." Maria said, sitting close to me and touching my arm.

"How did you find me?" I asked, remembering the inferno that consumed the school. How far away were we from the academy? Was Yuki alright? What about the others? How many people died in the fire?

Questions buzzed around in my brain before Maria answered "Ichiru followed you after dropping me and Yuki off. He wanted to help you take Bato down" She said.

"He would have just killed you" I stated. Without his weapon, Ichiru wouldn't have stood a chance against Bato.

"And you faired so much better" My brother snapped sarcastically. I furrowed my brow and sighed.

"No use in arguing my battle strategy, where are we?" I asked.

"Quite a ways away from the academy, if that is what you are referring to. I was afraid that the surrounding area would catch ablaze so I carried you nearly a mile before stopping." Ichiru said. I laughed.

"And you were worried about my spinal cord damage." I said, glancing at Maria who was still staring at me worriedly. "If I survived the trip here then I can survive the trip back, I need to see Yuki" I said.

"Yeah, yeah your girlfriend but I don't think you quite fathom the damage that you have done to yourself. You _died_ Zero, for nearly thirty minutes. I can go alert the headmaster to your whereabouts and he can have someone pick you up in a vehicle or something." Ichiru reasoned. It seemed like a smarter idea, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to be left alone with Maria, not that she bothered me but I wouldn't know what to say to her.

"I can keep an eye on him while you are gone" Maria offered. Her fingers that wrapped tightly around my arm were ice cold and trembling.

"Alright, are you sure?" Ichiru asked, giving her a worried look.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her" I said, trying and failing to sit up.

"I feel so much better" Ichiru scoffed before leaving us alone in the clearing. I glanced at Maria.

"Are you and my brother…together?" I asked. She giggled at my question.

"Goodness no. Your brothers heart is made of ice, I don't think he could love anyone even if he tried." She said, her cheeks turning red.

"That wasn't always the case you know, at one point, or so I thought, Ichiru was different than he is now." I commented, trying to sit up again and succeeding this time (with Maria's help.)

"I feel sorry for him, Shizuka used us both but I think it took a heavier toll on him." She said, shaking her head back and forth.

"Now that Shizuka is gone I thought he would give a little of that resentment up but I can see that he still harbors it" I said, leaning against a nearby tree.

"I think he is getting a little better now though, he has lightened up to me at least" Maria said, scooting next to me. A cold wind stirred up the fallen leaves in the clearing and chilled the dark bloodspots in my clothes. Maria shivered again.

"Good luck with him, in that case." I said, in order to avoid awkward pauses.

"He may not show it but I think he was really worried about you" She commented. "Especially when you started screaming and grabbed his face, I think that is why he hasn't bothered to wash the bloodstain off his face yet. It was proof at least, as long as you were holding onto him, that you were still alive."

I was rendered speechless. How did you comment on that type of thing anyway?

The room was littered with flowers ranging in color from dark orange to blood red. Yuki supposed that this was the kind of attention you got when you were a pureblood. He seemed to be sleeping lightly on the stark white medical bed and his hair was sprawled out haphazardly on the pillow.

What was left of his right arm was bandaged up and he was hooked up to a number of random beeping machines. "Kaname?" She asked, soft enough that in the case that he was asleep he wouldn't have been able to hear her.

"Yes, Yuki" He said, without bothering to open his eyes.

"Are you feeling better?" She said, walking fully into the room and sitting on one of the few, uncomfortable hospital chairs. Kaname was being held at a special hospital specifically for purebreds (because the fact that he had no vital signs would have alarmed the humans.)

"Now that you are here I am" He commented softly. His voice seemed a bit strained and he coughed a bit. "Did they ever find Zero?" He asked. Yuki's face turned solemn and she glanced away from him "I will take that as a 'no'. I am sorry Yuki; you must have been very worried about him."

"Tell me something Kaname, were you really in leagues with Bato?" Yuki asked, cutting straight to the point.

"Of course not. Have faith in me, dear Yuki." Kaname said, staring straight at Yuki.

"I do Kaname but there are just so many things I don't understand" She said, yelling slightly.

"Ask me a question and I promise to answer you truthfully" Kaname said, sitting up in order to better view Yuki's reactions.

"Zero knew you were still alive, but you never told me. How could you do that to me?" Yuki asked, panic raising her voice another couple of octaves.

"I couldn't have told you if I had wanted to Yuki, because you would have wanted to come see me and I needed Bato to believe that I was dead until I could come up with a plan to take him down" Kaname began, knowing that there would be a number of other questions.

"What about Kaysha and Seki? I saw them die! How are they still alive?" Yuki asked.

"That is simple, much like Bato used blood puppets to attack you and Yuki I used the same kind of technique on a couple of criminals I had bought from a human institution." Kaname explained, coolly as if it was perfectly natural to purchase humans. "I killed them and dressed them up to look like Kaysha and Seki, their voices were recordings. I did somewhat use Zero as my pawn, because I needed their deaths to look convincing so that Kaysha and I could stage a proper counter attack without Bato trying to interfere." Kaname explained.

Yuki gripped the edge of her shirt "You used us?" She repeated, not quite willing to believe it.

"I had no choice, Yuki, you don't seem to understand" Kaname said, trying to reason with her.

"I understand more than you think I do" Yuki snapped, defiantly. Kaname had significantly injured her pride. "You _lied_ to me, Kaname." She opened her mouth to say more, but the door opened and Kain stepped into the room. He glanced at the two of them and noted the tense air before speaking

"Pardon my intrusion, Kaname but it has just been reported that Zero Kiryu has been found and he is, miraculously, still alive." He said, before back tracking back out the door and closing it shut.

Yuki burst into silent sobs as all the truths flowed through her and released in her tears. Zero was alive! Kaname was alive! And the academy was going to survive as well. A helpless confusion washed over her and she left Kaname's bedside without another word.

"So is everyone alright?" I asked, as Yuki sat beside my bed picking idly at her fingernails. She glanced up and smiled a troubled smile at me. I frowned. "What happened?" I asked.

Her voice cracked a bit as she spoke "Aido didn't survive. Sayori is really shaken up about it, I am worried about her." She said, running her finger around the rim of a drink sitting at my bedside. I stayed silent. I had never been fond of Aido, and had on a number of contemplated killing him myself but I never wished him to die…

"She will be alright with time. Time heals all things" I said, repeating something my old hunter master Yagari Toga told me once not long after my parents passed away.

"I hope that is the case, Zero. I really do." She said, shaking her head.

"What happened to my brother and Maria?" I asked, in an attempt to change the subject.

"They left earlier, but I assume that they will be back eventually." She said.

"I owe Maria a lot, she essentially saved my life." I wonder how one pays off that kind of debt?

"She told me the story though I wish she would have been kind enough to edit some parts out" She said, laughing lightly. She didn't think it was funny; rather the moment was awkward for her to talk about. "I cried, mostly" she whispered, so softly I could have mistaken it. "I am so happy that you are alright, Zero" She added, smiling softly at me.

I glanced away from her. What was with all the mushy stuff all of the sudden? I almost missed the angst of battle, it would have been better than all the touchy feely nonsense. "Don't talk like that, Yuki." I said. I didn't deserve to make her worry.

She smiled again "So did you and your brother reconcile?" She asked "He waited in the lobby until you were released from surgery." I rolled my eyes. When I got to the vampire hospital (Kaname kindly vouched to have me put up in a room at an all pureblood hospital) they claimed that the doctors were going to have to reconstruct my spinal cord. The best part? Anesthetic doesn't affect vampires, so I had to suffer through the rejoining of my bones and my nerves, and then they went in and reconstructed my lungs as well. All and all it ended up being a five hour procedure but, when it was all over I did feel better. A little.

"So are you alright?" I asked, ignoring her question. I didn't want to think, nor did I want to talk about my brother for now.

She wrinkled her nose at me but answered my question anyway "I am feeling fine. I only suffered minor injuries when I was attacked; they are all healing fairly quickly." She said, showing me one of the bandages on her arm as an example.

"At least you're alright; I was worried about having to leave you with my brother." I said, then mentally slapped myself for bringing Ichiru up unprovoked.

"Kaname lost his arm" She commented at random.

"Is that all? What a shame" I mumbled bitterly. She frowned at me. "Yeah I remember, it was all some elaborate plot to take Bato Hatake down but you forget, I had to die for his plan to come to fruition." I growled slightly. The minute I get released from the hospital I am going to give Kaname a piece of my mind.

"He must be furious with me…I did walk out on him after all." She said, shaking her head back and forth.

"You walked out on him?" I asked, curiously. I wasn't usually one to get excited but the idea of Yuki ripping Kaname a new one intrigued me immensely.

"Yes, we were discussing what happened, about his plans and all and I ended up calling him a liar and walked out on him. I feel horrible but, I just can't face him now." She said. I could see the glimmer of a tear lurking in her eye, threatening to fall and reveal just how much arguing with Kaname hurt her.

I sighed. Maybe we would all be a little better off if I had stayed dead? That way, I wouldn't have to be tormented by watching Yuki sulk about Kaname, my brother wouldn't be having mixed feelings about his past decisions, and I wouldn't have to deal with the damn insatiable pain in my stomach!

"Anyway the headmaster is having the lot cleared out today; the aristocrats flashed some of their money around and ended up getting a cleanup crew and some building material to start us off with. I am going back today to help clean up, if you think you will be ok without me." She said, smiling a wide smile at me.

"I think I can survive a few days on my own" I said sarcastically. She was never going to trust me again, that much was clear.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid, like try and attack Kaname or anything like that." She said, chastising me.

"I can't make that promise." I stated stone-faced. I had every mind to strangle Kaname Kuran to death with my own hands.

"Zero" She warned. I sighed. I could always cross my fingers, couldn't I?

"Fine. I promise not to do anything stupid." Besides, killing Kaname would be a smart move, not a stupid one.

"Alright I will be back in a few days. Be good for your doctors and don't raise too much trouble" She said, winking at me before leaving me alone to my thoughts.

I didn't know what to think about Aido being dead but I knew what to think about Kaname's betrayal. He had used me in his plot, and then watched Bato nearly fatally injure me before bothering to intervene. His impassive attitude irked me beyond comparison and I soon found myself ripping the IV out of my arm, along with all the other incredibly annoying machinery I was hooked to and attempting to stand up.

My spine snapped and cracked, but it had been nearly a week since I was admitted and I was feeling well enough to move about. I headed down the stark white hallway at a painstakingly slow rate, surprisingly avoiding any nurses who may have wanted me to stay in my room. I made it to Kaname's room which I had heard Yuki mention earlier and opened the door.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I realized he was standing in front of his window, glaring down at the world. He was fully dressed and his bed had been made as if he were being released. His arm was still bandaged, which I figured it would remain that way for quite a few more weeks.

"You shouldn't be out of bed" He commented, not bothering to turn around and face me.

"And you, for the last time, shouldn't patronize me" I snarled. I was becoming increasingly annoyed of his pompous attitude and know-it-all smirk.

"You mistake my motivations Mr. Kiryu. I am just merely concerned about your health." He said, still impassive.

"Concerned that I didn't die?" I said, glancing at his chart on the wall. He was scheduled for release in a week "Where do you think you're going?" I snapped.

"I can't stay here for long before the council comes to bother me. I am sure that there will be a full scale investigation on the entire scenario and I don't want to be caught in the middle of it." He said.

"So you are just going to walk away from the wreckage as if it wasn't entirely your fault and you are going to leave Yuki, again? You are pathetic, Kuran. I always thought that I was the coward but now I know it was you all along."

"Now you are the one patronizing me?" He chastised, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up Kuran" I snapped. "You can't do this to her again, I won't let you" I said, taking a fighting stance.

Kuran crossed the room in a few short steps and slammed his hand into the side of his head, knocking me into the opposing wall. I gripped my side and closed my eyes "Damnit Kaname, you can't…" I reached for him, but the room faded from view and I slipped into unconsciousness.

"I would like to see you stop me" Kaname snapped, opening the window and disappearing into the daylight without a trace.

"Maybe you should sit down?" She asked, for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Yuki, I am fine" I whined, tired of her constant mothering. I wished she would just leave me to my own devices. I had been issued a pair of crutches to keep me from cracking in two when I was released, and ordered to return anytime I experience any kind of bleeding or immense, unbearable pain.

Kain laughed at me as I hobbled along the sidewalk towards the new Cross academy. It was merely a shadow of its former glory, but the headmaster had gathered enough material for it to at least be suitable as a school for now, until he could rebuild the dorm rooms.

The vampires had single handedly reconstructed the moon dorm to be more elaborate and intricate than ever (if that was even possible.) And Akatsuki Kain had been appointed as head of the moon dorm for the time being, before the headmaster could find another pureblood interested in the position, seeing as no one had heard of Kaname since he assaulted me in the hospital.

"I hope this speech isn't going to take too long, I don't think I can stand for very long" I mumbled. I was only coming to the headmaster's reconstruction/reopening speech because Yuki begged me to accompany her.

"I think you will live" Kain said, as some of the other vampires caught up to us on the path. Rima and Shiki walked arm in arm towards what remained of the auditorium where we would be introducing ourselves to the new group of day class freshman and the returning students as well.

Ruka was the last of the vampires to join us and she flaunted down the path, her blonde hair bouncing as she walked "Are Ichiru and Maria going to join us?" She asked curiously.

"I hope not" I mumbled, earning a whack on the arm from Yuki.

"Be nice to him, Zero. Ichiru is doing the best he can to help out, the least you can do is respect him." She said, asking the impossible of me.

"Whatever" I mumbled defiantly. The last thing I wanted was to respect my brother. He may have helped me recently, but I still wasn't ready to forgive him for selling out my family. In regards to Maria, however, I owed her a debt of gratitude for saving my life.

We entered the auditorium from the back walked up behind the stage, waiting to be introduced. "If anyone has any questions regarding the academy the please don't hesitate to ask our school disciplinary committee members, Zero Kiryu, Yuki Cross and our two newest members Ichiru Kiryu and Seki Konichi" A round of applause exploded from the audience as Yuki and I stepped onto the stage. Seki was a few seconds behind us and eventually Ichiru joined us as well and we all four took slight bows to greet the student body. Next was the announcement we were all waiting on; the new head of the night dorm. "And I am immensely thrilled to be able to introduce the new president of the night dorm, Maria Kurenia"

I blinked a few times. In the meyley I had completely forgotten that Maria was in fact a pureblood. Everyone clapped as Maria flaunted onto the stage looking more like an antique doll than a vampire, and bowing in front of the humans. She greeted them with a short, choppy, kind speech then flaunted back off stage, skipping slightly.

Kaysha Matsumi was rumored to be returning to the school eventually but for now her whereabouts remain unknown as well as Kaname Kuran. We were all a little shaken in the aftermath of the destruction Bato had wrought and it was hard to get too interested in the celebrations about the rebuilding of the school.

Once the ceremony was finished Yuki and I walked back to the headmaster's quarters, which was now a three bedroom house where we were forced to live in close, awkward quarters with each other. (Needless to say I spent most of my time at the moon dorm now, so as to avoid the headmaster as much as possible.)

"You don't mind me being a committee member?" Seki asked, catching us in front of the headmaster's quarters with Kain and Ruka who seemed strangely fond of following Yuki and I around recently.

"It was Kaname who betrayed us, as long as you never spilled Yukis blood then I have no qualms about you." I said, trying to be as diplomatic as possible.

"Well I won't say that I haven't thought about it" Seki said, winking at Yuki. I growled, releasing the sound from deep within my throat.

"Watch it, boy" I snarled. Yuki merely giggled as if she wasn't worried in the slightest.

"I was only kidding Mr. scary disciplinary committee member" Seki joked, getting ready to run from me, if I were so inclined to chase him.

Ichiru graciously slapped Seki on the back of the head, sneaking up behind him. Maria had her arm looped in my brothers and was hanging off of him. She winked at me, but I ignored the suggestiveness of her. She was attempting, or so she informed me, to 'de-thaw' my brothers frozen heart.

As if I really cared.

"No disciplinary member can go around drinking the blood of the students, especially the day class students" Ichiru said. Seki frowned at him.

"I was only joking anyway, and why do you wear that weird mask anyway?" He asked, commenting on the 'Phantom of the opera' like mask that my brother had taken up wearing again.

"He is embarrassed that Shizuka never turned him into a vampire, so he hides the humanity in his face" I answered, enjoying the opportunity to injure my brother's pride.

"Shut it, Zero" Ichiru snarled.

Yuki and Maria giggled. "We need to get back to the moon dorm, common newly instated disciplinary committee member" Ruka said, catching Seki by his shirt collar and dragging him along behind her.

"See you later Zero, Yuki, Miss Dorm room president" Kain said, bowing quickly before following after Ruka and Seki.

"It seems like all is well now that the battle is over, all things considered." Ichiru commented, staring up at the blazing sun.

"We got lucky, it seems" I added.

"And now we can all be friends!" Maria chirped, excited by the idea.

"Yeah, we can be friends" Yuki said, smiling. I could see the sadness in her voice, because Kaname's disappearance still haunted her. I hoped that one day, like Sayori, Yuki would find a way to move on.

I put my arm around her gently and pulled her closer to me "It's alright Yuki; I promise that from now on, everything will be alright." I said.

And as the sun beat down on us from above, Maria and my brother stood arm in arm mere inches away from Yuki and I, I honestly felt the truth in my words. Life would find a way to move on and in a few years all the pain and chaos we have endured will seem like nothing more than a distant memory.

I watched the sun fade into the distance as night overtook the world, and for the first time smiled without worrying about revealing my fangs.

"The new crop of night students will be arriving tomorrow" Yuki said, breaking the peaceful silence.

Without words I pulled out the 'Bloody Rose' and cocked it, smirking. "Let them come, at this point, I am ready for anything" I growled.

"Anything" A voice sounded from behind me, it was soft and sounded like chiming bells, we all four turned towards the intrusive noise and stared open mouthed at Kaname Kuran and Kaysha Matsumi, standing mere inches away from us side by side.

I snarled and pulled my gun on Kaname, focusing for a moment before pulling the trigger…

A/N – Well this is the last chapter of Zeros POV, the final chapter will be another subchapter. I hoped you enjoyed my series and I would like to formally thank my faithful reviewers, especially Michi4 who has stuck with me since chapter one. Please stay tuned for the final chapter; _Chapter twelve: Final truths _and be sure to read _It takes a fool_ – my newest VK fanfic. Read and review and remember; NO FLAMES.


End file.
